Venturi Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,266 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $830,666,000 after acquiring an additional 247,542 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $748,215,000 after acquiring an additional 157,305 shares in the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 913,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $189,768,000 after acquiring an additional 136,382 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 625,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $129,943,000 after acquiring an additional 37,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth approximately $84,801,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.7%

DRI stock opened at $186.63 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.18 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.79.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.75 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.31%.

Darden Restaurants declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to purchase up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. BTIG Research reduced their target price 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. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Darden Restaurants from $215.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total transaction of $1,094,837.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. This represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total value of $236,837.90. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,176,370.40. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,674 shares of company stock valued at $1,507,575 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.