Farther Finance Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,553 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,157,000 after buying an additional 1,437 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 21.5% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 509 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 513.7% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 448 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,606 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the first quarter worth $227,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.96.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $192.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $203.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.71. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.18 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.31%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total value of $107,031.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,423 shares in the company, valued at $1,109,816.95. This represents a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 2,013 shares of company stock valued at $412,738 in the last ninety days. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.