Aviso Financial Inc. Invests $706,000 in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Aviso Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,237 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $706,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bowman & Co S.C. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 9,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,099,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 32.2% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. GAM Holding AG grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the second quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 6,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. BTIG Research lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $255.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total transaction of $1,094,837.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. This represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $179.44 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $201.28. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $159.67 and a twelve month high of $228.27.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.31%.

Darden Restaurants 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.