Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Cibc World Market Inc.

Cibc World Market Inc. lowered its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,423 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 7,185 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 419.2% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 135 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth $44,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.78.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total value of $480,954.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at $3,787,992. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock opened at $211.42 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.04. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $24.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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