Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank cut its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 337,300 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 17,000 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $64,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $203.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $23.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $207.09 and a 200 day moving average of $194.76.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $480,954.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 17,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,787,992. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.