WINTON GROUP Ltd Grows Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 790.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,100 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,272 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $6,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,055,185 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,063,609,000 after purchasing an additional 284,814 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,916,944 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,071,746,000 after buying an additional 100,270 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,073,901 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $887,988,000 after buying an additional 75,701 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,134,246 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $680,418,000 after buying an additional 175,811 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 78.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $507,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,890 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total value of $480,954.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,787,992. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 over the last ninety days. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $201.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $206.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.73. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.14, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 62.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $207.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.89.

Darden Restaurants Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.