Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Acquired by AGF Management Ltd.

AGF Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,314 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 574 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $3,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bowman & Co S.C. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 9,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 32.2% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. GAM Holding AG boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 6,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.8% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $178.02 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $20.71 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $159.40 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $203.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on DRI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.82.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total transaction of $1,094,837.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. This represents a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

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.