Korea Investment CORP Has $13.58 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Korea Investment CORP grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,311 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,337 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.06% of Darden Restaurants worth $13,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DRI. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 98.5% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 64,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,206,000 after purchasing an additional 31,815 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 164.1% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 3,027 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth $2,536,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth $2,816,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $507,675,000 after buying an additional 1,171,890 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total value of $1,450,448.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,644.80. This represents a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 value 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 15th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.33.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.1%

DRI opened at $203.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The company’s 50-day moving average is $207.09 and its 200 day moving average is $194.76. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Research analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th were paid 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 was Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 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.