Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Buys 4,196 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 88.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,962 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 4,196 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DRI. GAM Holding AG raised its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,564,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, apricus wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,165,474.24. This represents a 13.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DRI has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Melius Research raised Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, 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. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.78.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $216.72 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $24.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.64. 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’s fifty day moving average is $200.47 and its 200 day moving average is $194.37. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued 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 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 company earned $2.03 EPS. The business’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. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 62.89%.

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.