Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Hickory Point Bank & Trust

Hickory Point Bank & Trust lowered its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,425 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 32.2% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position 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 valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.2% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,688 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $766,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.5% in the first quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 4,053 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $849,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Melius Research upgraded Darden Restaurants to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $252.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.92.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $212.62 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $207.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $206.01. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $155.18 and a one year high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 51.81% and a net margin of 8.69%.The company had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.57%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Friday, June 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to repurchase up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 5,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.22, for a total value of $1,284,431.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,012,212.10. This trade represents a 55.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.50, for a total value of $160,160.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,139,189.50. The trade was a 4.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,727 shares of company stock worth $10,022,232. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.