Allstate Corp Takes $748,000 Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,927 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $748,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,055,185 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,063,609,000 after acquiring an additional 284,814 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,916,944 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,071,746,000 after purchasing an additional 100,270 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,073,901 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $887,988,000 after purchasing an additional 75,701 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,134,246 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $680,418,000 after buying an additional 175,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 45.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,917,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $417,935,000 after buying an additional 596,863 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DRI. Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.30.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total value of $1,471,173.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. This trade represents a 13.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at $849,761.28. This represents a 39.14% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $205.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The firm has a market cap of $23.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $188.15 and its 200-day moving average is $194.44.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

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.