Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Invests $640,000 in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 3,364 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $640,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DRI. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 419.2% in the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 135 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter valued at $44,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DRI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $207.00 price objective (down from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $849,761.28. This trade represents a 39.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total value of $1,471,173.36. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. This trade represents a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $199.35 on Monday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27. The firm has a market cap of $22.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $191.43 and a 200-day moving average of $193.65.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.