Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New $2.54 Million Investment in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,323 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,536,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 11.8% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,523 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 5.4% in the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,831 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC acquired a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter worth $448,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 28,496 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $6,211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the firm’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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John W. Wilkerson sold 2,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total value of $480,954.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,784 shares in the company, valued at $3,787,992. This trade represents a 11.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,770 shares of company stock valued at $3,948,970. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on DRI shares. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $207.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $195.00 to $235.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.78.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.8%

DRI stock opened at $200.03 on Wednesday. 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 capitalization of $23.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.64. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The business has a 50-day moving average of $189.80 and a 200-day moving average of $193.85.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given 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 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 62.89%.

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.