Swiss National Bank Has $66.22 Million Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 337,800 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 19,000 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $66,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DRI. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,486,434,000 after acquiring an additional 3,613,781 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter valued at $144,483,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth about $113,301,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,884,339 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $346,756,000 after purchasing an additional 563,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 239.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 722,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $157,490,000 after purchasing an additional 509,655 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,930 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.21, for a total transaction of $2,047,665.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $858,864.65. The trade was a 70.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE:DRI opened at $192.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $22.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $202.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $202.86. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $220.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 62.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.88.

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.