Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Acquired by Aviso Financial Inc.

Aviso Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 130.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,457 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,220 shares during the quarter. Aviso Financial Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.4% during the second quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 16,142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,518,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,695 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 12.1% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 26,740 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,829,000 after acquiring an additional 2,887 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $297,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 102,500.0% in the second quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,026 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,165,474.24. This represents a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,644.80. The trade was a 42.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on DRI shares. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Melius Research raised Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.78.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $213.51 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $204.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.77. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 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.