John Wilkerson Sells 2,258 Shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) insider John Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total value of $480,954.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,787,992. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

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 one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s fifty day moving average is $188.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.44.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS 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 given 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 is Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 62.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.30.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Midwest Trust Co bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,441,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 74.5% in the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 17,195 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,273,000 after acquiring an additional 7,342 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $9,275,000 after acquiring an additional 4,804 shares in the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth $2,816,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 19.7% in the second quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 23,352 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,090,000 after purchasing an additional 3,844 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

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.