Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Raises Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 32.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,381 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,277 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 419.2% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 135 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4,000.0% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 246 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DRI. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.00.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $209.48 on Tuesday. 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 has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.12 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.64. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $228.27.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is currently 62.89%.

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.