Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by LRT Capital Management LLC

LRT Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 28.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,893 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 6,011 shares during the period. Darden Restaurants comprises about 1.9% of LRT Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. LRT Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DRI. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.6% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,839,198 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,824,996,000 after purchasing an additional 236,620 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,055,185 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,063,609,000 after buying an additional 284,814 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,916,944 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,071,746,000 after buying an additional 100,270 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,463,786 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $849,726,000 after buying an additional 1,102,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,073,901 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $887,988,000 after buying an additional 75,701 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 2.2%

NYSE DRI opened at $206.92 on Tuesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $207.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 62.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on DRI shares. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total value of $1,471,173.36. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total value of $480,954.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 17,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,787,992. This trade represents a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.