Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by 1832 Asset Management L.P.

1832 Asset Management L.P. trimmed its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 30.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 180,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 78,210 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.15% of Darden Restaurants worth $39,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bowman & Co S.C. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 9,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,099,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. GAM Holding AG grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:DRI opened at $177.26 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $181.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $200.06. The company has a market capitalization of $20.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.66. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $159.67 and a 52-week high of $228.27. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The business 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 firm posted $1.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total value of $1,094,837.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. This trade represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Argus lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.89.

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.