Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Acquires 4,753 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 126,295 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,753 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.11% of Darden Restaurants worth $24,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 419.2% in the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 135 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the third quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at $44,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total value of $480,954.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 17,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,787,992. This represents a 11.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $546,393.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $849,761.28. This represents a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970 in the last ninety days. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Mizuho raised Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Melius Research raised Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.78.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $199.36 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $22.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $190.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.91. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. 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 presently 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.