Lion Street Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Lion Street Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 186.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 57,370 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,341 shares during the quarter. Darden Restaurants makes up approximately 3.5% of Lion Street Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Lion Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $10,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAM Holding AG grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. apricus wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.2% in the third quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Embree Financial Group lifted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.5% in the third quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 1,681 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $3,787,992. This trade represents a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total value of $1,471,173.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 44,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,165,474.24. This trade represents a 13.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970 in the last quarter. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock opened at $217.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.64. 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 moving average price of $201.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.59. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on DRI shares. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $207.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.78.

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.