Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Bought by Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 21,700.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 654 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 651 shares during the quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $143,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 419.2% during the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 135 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 32.2% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quaker Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 136.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 221 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 823 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total value of $1,094,837.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. The trade was a 28.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 6th. BTIG Research cut their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $253.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.64.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of DRI opened at $179.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $159.67 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $20.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $200.77.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.75 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.31%.

Darden Restaurants Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.