Baldwin Investment Management LLC Increases Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Baldwin Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 32.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,723 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,630 shares during the period. Baldwin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,055,185 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,063,609,000 after purchasing an additional 284,814 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,916,944 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,071,746,000 after buying an additional 100,270 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,073,901 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $887,988,000 after buying an additional 75,701 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $507,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,890 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $480,954.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,787,992. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 over the last ninety days. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $214.23 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $202.33 and a 200 day moving average of $194.50.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The company’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, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th were given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Weiss Ratings raised Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.78.

About Darden Restaurants

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.