Darden Restaurants Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:DRI)

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 3,025 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 50% compared to the average daily volume of 2,011 put options.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DRI. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,734 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,970 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 547.7% during the 1st quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 4,534 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $941,000 after buying an additional 3,834 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 89.7% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,525 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at about $901,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $192.70 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $180.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $198.14. The firm has a market cap of $22.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Darden Restaurants has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.09 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.39.

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.