Skba Capital Management LLC Reduces Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Skba Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 16.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,915 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 9,730 shares during the period. Skba Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $9,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 23.5% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,695 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth about $297,000. Machina Capital S.A.S. lifted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 24.4% in the second quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 2,864 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.2% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 6,011 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,310,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, J. W. Coons Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $210.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $205.13 and a 200 day moving average of $194.81. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The stock has a market cap of $24.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.61. 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 (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th were given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.89%.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total value of $1,471,173.36. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Melius Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.