Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Acquires 2,645 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 102.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,645 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,941,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 44.8% during the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on DRI. UBS Group lifted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore cut shares of Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.32.

Darden Restaurants News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Darden Restaurants this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target on Darden to $240 from $230 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling confidence in additional upside after the quarter. UBS price target increase on Darden Restaurants
• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank lifted its target to $236 from $230 and kept a buy rating, citing room for continued gains. Deutsche Bank price target increase on Darden Restaurants
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG, Stephens, Piper Sandler, Robert W. Baird and others also raised targets after reviewing the quarter, which reinforces the market’s view that Darden’s brand strength and long-term earnings power remain intact. Analysts boost forecasts after Darden Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: The company beat fiscal Q4 EPS estimates, reported 13.7% year-over-year revenue growth, raised its quarterly dividend 8%, and authorized a new $1.5 billion share repurchase program, all of which are supportive for shareholder returns. Darden fiscal 2026 results and capital return actions
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s fiscal 2027 guidance was slightly below Wall Street’s EPS expectations and revenue came in just under forecasts, which tempers the post-earnings enthusiasm. Darden earnings coverage from CNBC
• Negative Sentiment: Some reports noted that Olive Garden and other comparable sales trends were mixed, suggesting that not all brands are accelerating evenly despite LongHorn Steakhouse’s strength. Mixed Q4 results and brand performance for Darden

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $213.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $200.98. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $222.56.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The company’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. This represents a 15.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. The trade was a 92.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.