Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Has $1.03 Million Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 102.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,645 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,190 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 15,983 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,941,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.8% in the first quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.9% in the second quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 1,308 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore downgraded Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.32.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI stock opened at $213.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $222.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $201.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $200.98.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.80%.

More Darden Restaurants News

Here are the key news stories impacting Darden Restaurants this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target on Darden to $240 from $230 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling confidence in additional upside after the quarter. UBS price target increase on Darden Restaurants
• Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank lifted its target to $236 from $230 and kept a buy rating, citing room for continued gains. Deutsche Bank price target increase on Darden Restaurants
• Positive Sentiment: BTIG, Stephens, Piper Sandler, Robert W. Baird and others also raised targets after reviewing the quarter, which reinforces the market’s view that Darden’s brand strength and long-term earnings power remain intact. Analysts boost forecasts after Darden Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: The company beat fiscal Q4 EPS estimates, reported 13.7% year-over-year revenue growth, raised its quarterly dividend 8%, and authorized a new $1.5 billion share repurchase program, all of which are supportive for shareholder returns. Darden fiscal 2026 results and capital return actions
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s fiscal 2027 guidance was slightly below Wall Street’s EPS expectations and revenue came in just under forecasts, which tempers the post-earnings enthusiasm. Darden earnings coverage from CNBC
• Negative Sentiment: Some reports noted that Olive Garden and other comparable sales trends were mixed, suggesting that not all brands are accelerating evenly despite LongHorn Steakhouse’s strength. Mixed Q4 results and brand performance for Darden

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total transaction of $731,819.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.