Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ reduced its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 10.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,163 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,192 shares during the quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $6,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Union Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 926.7% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 154 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Lindsay L. Koren sold 300 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $58,296.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $314,215.44. The trade was a 15.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 3,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.16, for a total value of $731,819.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 274 shares in the company, valued at $55,391.84. This represents a 92.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

DRI opened at $203.84 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $202.31 and a 200-day moving average of $201.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.60. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $220.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.03. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 57.44% and a net margin of 9.13%.The business had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 62.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Stephens lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, March 13th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.32.

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.