Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Reduces Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC reduced its stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,700 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,119 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 98.5% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 64,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,206,000 after buying an additional 31,815 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 164.1% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,872 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $928,000 after acquiring an additional 3,027 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,536,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,816,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 78.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,666,919 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $507,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,890 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $203.69 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $207.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.76. The stock has a market cap of $23.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 52.44% and a net margin of 8.92%.Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. This trade represents a 13.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at $849,761.28. This trade represents a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DRI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Melius Research raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $234.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Barclays cut their target price on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.33.

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.