ORG Wealth Partners LLC Takes Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $70,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bowman & Co S.C. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 9,631 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,099,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% in the 2nd 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. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 15.8% in the 1st 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. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on DRI. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 13,569 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.45, for a total value of $2,937,010.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 46,327 shares in the company, valued at $10,027,479.15. This trade represents a 22.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total transaction of $236,837.90. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,176,370.40. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,264 shares of company stock valued at $5,024,790 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $188.49 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $155.18 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $21.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $204.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $205.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.31%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has approved a stock 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 reacquire up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.