Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Picton Mahoney Asset Management

Picton Mahoney Asset Management trimmed its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 63.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,070 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 40,815 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $4,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 23.5% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,695 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,011 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. acquired a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at $399,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,408 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter worth $44,000. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total value of $1,450,448.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,644.80. The trade was a 42.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE DRI opened at $206.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.63, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $205.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $194.95.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released 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). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.