Global Retirement Partners LLC Takes Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,089 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $891,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,055,185 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,063,609,000 after acquiring an additional 284,814 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,073,901 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $887,988,000 after purchasing an additional 75,701 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during 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 period. Finally, Hamlin Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 918,387 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $200,181,000 after purchasing an additional 4,989 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $2,691,354.40. This trade represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $180.04 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $200.98. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $159.67 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $20.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for 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. Darden Restaurants’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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 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.