Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Stake Lowered by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,008 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,542 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $7,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Bowman & Co S.C. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 9,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,099,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. GAM Holding AG grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the second quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 6,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,564,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $202.54 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $23.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $182.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $194.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 62.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.00.

Darden Restaurants 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.