Hamlin Capital Management LLC Sells 14,665 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Hamlin Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 903,722 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 14,665 shares during the period. Darden Restaurants comprises 3.9% of Hamlin Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Hamlin Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $172,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,839,198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,824,996,000 after purchasing an additional 236,620 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the second 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,916,944 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,071,746,000 after purchasing an additional 100,270 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 32.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,463,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $849,726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 75,701 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on DRI shares. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $207.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.33.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $202.36 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $23.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $207.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.60.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at $849,761.28. This trade represents a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total transaction of $1,450,448.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,644.80. The trade was a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Darden Restaurants

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.