M&G PLC Cuts Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

M&G PLC reduced its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 45.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,159 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 2,593 shares during the period. M&G PLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 41.9% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 16,464 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,421,000 after purchasing an additional 4,864 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 115.3% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,759 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after buying an additional 3,619 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.5% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,257 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.6% during the first quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,105 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.8% in the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,691,354.40. This represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. BTIG Research dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.82.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.1%

DRI stock opened at $175.48 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $159.40 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $189.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $202.78. 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 market capitalization of $20.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.31%.

Darden Restaurants Profile

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.