Insider Selling: Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Insider Sells 7,103 Shares of Stock

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of Darden Restaurants 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 transaction, the insider owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,165,474.24. This trade represents a 13.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded up $1.06 on Wednesday, hitting $207.61. The company had a trading volume of 1,258,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,974,006. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $183.32 and a 200-day moving average of $194.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.64.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth $26,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 419.2% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 135 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on DRI. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus 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.