Alps Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 115,361 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,350 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $21,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 419.2% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 135 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. 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

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DRI. Mizuho upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $195.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.78.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the business’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 owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,644.80. The trade was a 42.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. This represents a 13.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRI opened at $216.28 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $194.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $193.80. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $24.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

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

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was 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.