Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 322 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 24.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,613 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $830,666,000 after purchasing an additional 247,542 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.6% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $748,215,000 after buying an additional 157,305 shares in the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the second quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 918,387 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $200,181,000 after buying an additional 4,989 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 625,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $129,943,000 after acquiring an additional 37,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth about $84,801,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total transaction of $1,094,837.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at $2,691,354.40. This trade represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. KeyCorp cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.82.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $180.08 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $157.89 and a 1 year high of $228.27. The company has a market capitalization of $20.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $195.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $204.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). The business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.31%.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.