Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Purchases New Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 601 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $131,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 171.4% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 133 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 108.8% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 142 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Centennial Bank AR acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total transaction of $236,837.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,176,370.40. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total value of $1,094,837.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,691,354.40. This represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,674 shares of company stock valued at $1,507,575 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Melius assumed coverage on Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.59.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.7%

DRI opened at $186.63 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.18 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $201.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $205.79.

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

Darden Restaurants declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

About Darden Restaurants

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.