OLD National Bancorp IN Raises Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 3.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,714 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 95 shares during the quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 1st quarter valued at $526,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth about $215,000. Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth about $217,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,627 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,792,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth about $219,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 1,157 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.70, for a total value of $236,837.90. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,176,370.40. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,013 shares of company stock valued at $412,738. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DRI. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $252.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Argus reduced their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.59.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $191.40 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $202.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.07. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.18 and a 52-week high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.04). Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.35% and a net margin of 8.90%.The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.75 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Friday, June 20th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.31%.

About Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.