Capital World Investors Acquires 236,620 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,839,198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 236,620 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors owned 0.13% of Darden Restaurants worth $2,824,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $507,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,890 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 820.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 706,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $153,977,000 after buying an additional 629,669 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 45.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,917,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $417,935,000 after acquiring an additional 596,863 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 192.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 880,765 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $191,980,000 after acquiring an additional 579,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth $125,521,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $201.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The business has a 50-day moving average of $206.33 and a 200 day moving average of $194.73.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Melius Research upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.89.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total value of $1,450,448.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,644.80. This represents a 42.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $480,954.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at $3,787,992. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970 in the last 90 days. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.