EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC Trims Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC trimmed its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 422 shares during the quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $698,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the first quarter valued at approximately $84,801,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth approximately $53,760,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $830,666,000 after buying an additional 247,542 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,134,246 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $680,418,000 after buying an additional 175,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3,824.2% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 177,217 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,819,000 after buying an additional 172,701 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,691,354.40. This represents a 28.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $175.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $202.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.74. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $159.40 and a 52-week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DRI. Guggenheim raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.82.

About Darden Restaurants

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.