Copperwynd Financial LLC Sells 121 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Copperwynd Financial LLC cut its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,298 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 121 shares during the period. Copperwynd Financial LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,627 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth $219,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 78.0% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the first quarter valued at $413,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday. Argus decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Darden Restaurants from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned 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 $225.59.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $188.00 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.18 and a 52-week high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.95. The company has a market capitalization of $21.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.77.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. The firm’s 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. Research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.31%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at $2,691,354.40. This represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total transaction of $107,031.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,423 shares in the company, valued at $1,109,816.95. This represents a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,674 shares of company stock worth $1,507,575 over the last quarter. Corporate 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.