Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Acquired by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,842 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,028 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MAI Capital Management raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,564,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. apricus wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.2% in the third quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Embree Financial Group boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.5% in the third quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 1,681 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers National Bank increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the second quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,597 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $784,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI opened at $203.74 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $23.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $206.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,644.80. The trade was a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $480,954.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 17,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,787,992. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970 over the last 90 days. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Melius Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.89.

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.