John Wilkerson Sells 2,258 Shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) insider John Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $480,954.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at $3,787,992. This trade represents a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:DRI traded down $2.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $206.72. The company had a trading volume of 223,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,842,952. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $23.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $186.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $194.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 62.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darden Restaurants

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Midwest Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at about $2,441,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,550 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $9,275,000 after buying an additional 4,804 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 74.5% in the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 17,195 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,273,000 after acquiring an additional 7,342 shares in the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,816,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 19.7% during the second quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 23,352 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $5,090,000 after acquiring an additional 3,844 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on DRI shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings raised Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.00.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.