Hamlin Capital Management LLC Sells 14,665 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Hamlin Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 903,722 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 14,665 shares during the quarter. Darden Restaurants makes up approximately 3.9% of Hamlin Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Hamlin Capital Management LLC owned about 0.78% of Darden Restaurants worth $172,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DRI. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC purchased a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DRI has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Darden Restaurants from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.33.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRI opened at $202.36 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $207.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $23.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $228.27.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The restaurant operator reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th were given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is presently 62.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was 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 $3,787,992. This represents a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $849,761.28. This represents a 39.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants 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.