Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Has $13.67 Million Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,704 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 372 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned 0.05% of Darden Restaurants worth $13,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 108.8% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 32.2% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DRI. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.59.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $188.16 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $204.90. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $157.89 and a 52 week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 64.31%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total value of $1,094,837.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. The trade was a 28.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total transaction of $107,031.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,109,816.95. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,341 shares of company stock valued at $1,438,707 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.