Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Decreases Stock Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp cut its holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 34.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,242 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 4,252 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Darden Restaurants during the second quarter valued at $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 419.2% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 135 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Darden Restaurants during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 32.2% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Friday. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Argus lowered their target price on Darden Restaurants from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.75.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, SVP Matthew R. Broad sold 5,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.40, for a total transaction of $1,094,837.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,691,354.40. This trade represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:DRI opened at $189.36 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $22.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.66. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $228.27. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $180.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $197.51.

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 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 company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants’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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 62.89%.

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.