Twin Capital Management Inc. Sells 6,364 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Twin Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 77.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,856 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 6,364 shares during the quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 820.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 706,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $153,977,000 after acquiring an additional 629,669 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 45.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,917,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $417,935,000 after purchasing an additional 596,863 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 192.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 880,765 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $191,980,000 after purchasing an additional 579,759 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $125,521,000. 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 valued at $157,490,000 after purchasing an additional 509,655 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $216.28 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $194.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $193.69. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.78.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total value of $1,471,173.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. The trade was a 13.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total transaction of $1,450,448.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,935,644.80. The trade was a 42.84% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.