Key Points
- Insider John Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares on January 16 at an average price of $213, totaling $480,954 and reducing his holding by 11.27% to 17,784 shares (≈$3.79M).
- Darden reported Q earnings of $2.08 EPS (missing the $2.10 estimate by $0.02) with revenue of $3.10B (above estimates) and set FY2026 guidance of $10.50–$10.70 EPS versus analysts' average forecast of 9.52.
- The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share (annualized $6.00) with an ex-dividend date of January 9 and a yield of about 2.9%.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) insider John Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 17,784 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,787,992. This represents a 11.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.
Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.8%
NYSE:DRI opened at $207.27 on Thursday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27. 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 company has a market cap of $23.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.64. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $187.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.36.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The company's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.
Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is presently 62.89%.
Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants
Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DRI. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 1.6% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,839,198 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,824,996,000 after acquiring an additional 236,620 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,055,185 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,063,609,000 after purchasing an additional 284,814 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,916,944 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,071,746,000 after purchasing an additional 100,270 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,463,786 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $849,726,000 after buying an additional 1,102,211 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,073,901 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $887,988,000 after buying an additional 75,701 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DRI. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $227.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $223.30.
Read Our Latest Analysis on DRI
Darden Restaurants Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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