Andra AP fonden Has $19.23 Million Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Andra AP fonden boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 101,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,100 shares during the quarter. Andra AP fonden owned 0.09% of Darden Restaurants worth $19,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 88.6% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 32,303 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $7,041,000 after purchasing an additional 15,173 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,955 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,478,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.1% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 29,655 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,464,000 after acquiring an additional 1,160 shares during the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 16,142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,518,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:DRI opened at $213.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.39 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its 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). 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. The company’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. Equities research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Mizuho raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,644.80. This trade represents a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $849,761.28. This trade represents a 39.14% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.