Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Takes Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,323 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,536,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 284,814 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,916,944 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,071,746,000 after purchasing an additional 100,270 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,073,901 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $887,988,000 after purchasing an additional 75,701 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,134,246 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $680,418,000 after purchasing an additional 175,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 45.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,917,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $417,935,000 after purchasing an additional 596,863 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on DRI shares. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” 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 research report on Friday, December 19th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $207.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.78.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $200.03 on Wednesday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $228.27. 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 fifty day moving average of $189.80 and a 200-day moving average of $193.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 62.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In related news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total value of $480,954.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at $3,787,992. This represents a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at $849,761.28. This trade represents a 39.14% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.