Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 2,408 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 40,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,408 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $8,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $748,215,000 after purchasing an additional 157,305 shares during the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 6.4% in 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 valued at $129,943,000 after buying an additional 37,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at about $84,801,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $178.02 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $159.40 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.74. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $203.53.

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 analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on DRI. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total transaction of $1,094,837.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. This trade represents a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.