SevenBridge Financial Group LLC Has $2.30 Million Stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

SevenBridge Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,087 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,808 shares during the quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. MAI Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,177 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,564,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. apricus wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Embree Financial Group boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 3.5% during the third quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 1,681 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers National Bank boosted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the second quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,597 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $784,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of DRI opened at $203.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $23.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $207.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.76. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.02). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 62.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total transaction of $546,393.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $849,761.28. This trade represents a 39.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total value of $480,954.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 17,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,787,992. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $207.00 target price (down from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.33.

Darden Restaurants Company 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.