Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Position Cut by Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ decreased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 10.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,163 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,192 shares during the quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $6,893,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Union Savings Bank bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares in the company, valued at $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.9%

DRI stock opened at $203.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $202.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.81. The company has a market capitalization of $23.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $220.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The business had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This is an increase from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 62.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $272.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Evercore downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.32.

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.