Twin Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Twin Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 77.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,856 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 6,364 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 820.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 706,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $153,977,000 after purchasing an additional 629,669 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 45.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,917,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $417,935,000 after buying an additional 596,863 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 192.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 880,765 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $191,980,000 after buying an additional 579,759 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $125,521,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 239.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 722,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $157,490,000 after buying an additional 509,655 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at $3,787,992. This represents a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.3%

DRI stock opened at $216.28 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $24.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.69.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released 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). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $207.00 price target (down previously from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, January 8th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.