Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Takes Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,191 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $696,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,998,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $830,666,000 after purchasing an additional 247,542 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,601,340 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $748,215,000 after purchasing an additional 157,305 shares during the period. Hamlin Capital Management LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 918,387 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $200,181,000 after purchasing an additional 4,989 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 625,449 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $129,943,000 after purchasing an additional 37,878 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Darden Restaurants in the 1st quarter worth $84,801,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial decreased 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.82.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI stock opened at $180.08 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $195.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $204.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $157.89 and a 12-month high of $228.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

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

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 64.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total transaction of $1,094,837.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. The trade was a 28.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.