Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Takes Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,364 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,163,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,055,185 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,063,609,000 after acquiring an additional 284,814 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $1,071,746,000 after acquiring an additional 100,270 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 75,701 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 worth $680,418,000 after acquiring an additional 175,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $507,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,890 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,787,992. This represents a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $849,761.28. This represents a 39.14% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock opened at $203.27 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.40 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 62.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DRI. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued 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. Mizuho raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.