Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Acquires 3,844 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,352 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,844 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $5,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at $84,801,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter valued at $53,760,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,134,246 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $680,418,000 after purchasing an additional 175,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3,824.2% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 177,217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,819,000 after purchasing an additional 172,701 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

DRI stock opened at $174.46 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $184.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $201.56. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $159.67 and a fifty-two week 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 capitalization of $20.29 billion, a PE ratio of 18.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $255.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. BTIG Research dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Argus reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Twenty investment 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.82.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, 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 owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. This trade represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.