Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 304,411 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $57,948,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. GAM Holding AG boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 6,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 transaction, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. This trade represents a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 16,512 shares of company stock worth $3,468,016 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $208.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.00.

About Darden Restaurants

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.