Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) CFO Rajesh Vennam Sells 6,774 Shares

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,935,644.80. The trade was a 42.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 2.8%

DRI traded down $5.95 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $208.68. The stock had a trading volume of 2,076,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,984,651. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.64. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. QV Investors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 64.8% in the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 53,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $9,914,000 after acquiring an additional 21,190 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,493 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 4,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $788,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 926.7% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorato Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $55,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% 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.