Strs Ohio Has $532,000 Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Strs Ohio trimmed its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 96.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,794 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 82,034 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,055,185 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,063,609,000 after acquiring an additional 284,814 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,916,944 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,071,746,000 after purchasing an additional 100,270 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,073,901 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $887,988,000 after purchasing an additional 75,701 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,134,246 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $680,418,000 after purchasing an additional 175,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 45.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,917,398 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $417,935,000 after purchasing an additional 596,863 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $480,954.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,787,992. This represents a 11.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of DRI opened at $199.35 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $191.43 and a 200-day moving average of $193.84.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 prior year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. The company’s 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 62.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DRI shares. Citigroup cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Mizuho raised Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $195.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.78.

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.