Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Stock Sold by Willis Investment Counsel

Willis Investment Counsel decreased its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 97,400 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 25,000 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $18,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 1,148 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 44.8% in the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 181 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 442 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 5,789 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,193,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.8% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,299 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on DRI. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Argus upped their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Darden Restaurants from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $232.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Susan Connelly sold 2,226 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.17, for a total value of $463,386.42. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $867,028.05. The trade was a 34.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Wilkerson sold 8,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.33, for a total transaction of $1,846,637.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 18,794 shares in the company, valued at $3,915,354.02. The trade was a 32.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,255 shares of company stock valued at $12,589,319. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of Darden Restaurants stock traded up $0.01 on Tuesday, reaching $216.25. 344,185 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,324,825. The company has a 50 day moving average of $211.63 and a 200 day moving average of $205.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.20. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $229.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.47 billion, a PE ratio of 21.14, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.63.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 24th. The restaurant operator reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.85% and a return on equity of 58.64%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.97 EPS. Darden Restaurants’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 63.34%.

Darden Restaurants Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a full-service restaurant company that owns and operates a portfolio of dining brands in the United States. Its restaurants offer a range of cuisines and dining formats, including Italian-American, steakhouse, seafood, casual dining and polished casual concepts.

The company’s portfolio includes Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze and Eddie V’s. These brands serve meals prepared for on-premises dining, as well as takeout and other off-premises occasions.

Darden traces its history to 1968, when founder William “Bill” Darden opened the first Red Lobster restaurant in Lakeland, Florida.