Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) CFO Rajesh Vennam Sells 6,774 Shares of Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total transaction of $1,450,448.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,644.80. This trade represents a 42.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $208.68 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $186.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.89%.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. QV Investors Inc. grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 64.8% in the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 53,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $9,914,000 after buying an additional 21,190 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,493 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 4,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 926.7% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Dorato Capital Management acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on DRI. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $207.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.00.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.