JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,171,890 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $507,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAM Holding AG grew its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the second quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 6,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, apricus wealth LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.2% in the third quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.78.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $216.72 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The company has a market capitalization of $24.95 billion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The business has a 50-day moving average of $200.47 and a 200-day moving average of $194.37.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 EPS 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 business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. 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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 62.89%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $849,761.28. This trade represents a 39.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total transaction of $1,450,448.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,935,644.80. This trade represents a 42.84% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. 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.