Swedbank AB Cuts Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Swedbank AB decreased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 8.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 5,418 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.05% of Darden Restaurants worth $12,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,486,434,000 after buying an additional 3,613,781 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $507,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,890 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $144,483,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,301,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 42.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,884,339 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $346,756,000 after acquiring an additional 563,237 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Darden Restaurants

Here are the key news stories impacting Darden Restaurants this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised its estimates for several future quarters, including Q1 2028, Q2 2028, Q3 2028, and FY2029, suggesting improving longer-term earnings power for Darden. DRI stock page
• Positive Sentiment: The latest commentary still implies solid profitability ahead, with FY2028 EPS projected at $12.17 and FY2029 EPS at $13.19, which supports the bullish case for the restaurant operator. DRI stock page
• Neutral Sentiment: The company recently reported quarterly earnings that slightly beat EPS expectations, while revenue was just below estimates; that results mix is not a major new catalyst but continues to show steady operating performance. DRI stock page
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks trimmed some near-term forecasts, including Q1 2027, Q2 2027, Q3 2027, Q4 2027, FY2027, FY2028 Q4, and Q4 2028 EPS, which could weigh on sentiment because it suggests some earnings pressure in the nearer horizon. DRI stock page
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by SVP Susan Connelly, who sold 9,930 shares, may also be a small headwind for investor sentiment, even though it does not change the company’s fundamentals. Article on insider sale

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock traded up $2.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $204.21. 1,554,121 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,531,505. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $220.65. The company has a market capitalization of $23.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $202.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 57.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total value of $2,047,665.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares in the company, valued at $858,864.65. This trade represents a 70.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Evercore downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. KeyCorp upped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $227.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.32.

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.