Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Sells 5,240 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 101,830 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 5,240 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $19,386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAM Holding AG grew its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.7% in the second quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 6,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, apricus wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.2% in the third quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on DRI shares. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Barclays reduced their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.78.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE:DRI opened at $218.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $25.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $193.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.00 and a 1-year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 62.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 6,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.12, for a total transaction of $1,450,448.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,040 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,644.80. This represents a 42.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at $9,165,474.24. This represents a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Darden Restaurants 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.