Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,735 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 4,105 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $9,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 820.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 706,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $153,977,000 after acquiring an additional 629,669 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 45.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,917,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $417,935,000 after purchasing an additional 596,863 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 192.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 880,765 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $191,980,000 after purchasing an additional 579,759 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $125,521,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 239.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 722,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $157,490,000 after buying an additional 509,655 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total value of $1,471,173.36. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. This trade represents a 13.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on DRI. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Melius Research upgraded Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Mizuho upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.78.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $199.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $190.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.91. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% 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 anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 62.89%.

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.