Rep. Robert Bresnahan, Jr. Buys Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Stock

Representative Robert Bresnahan, Jr. (R-Pennsylvania) recently bought shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. NYSE: DRI. In a filing disclosed on May 08th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Darden Restaurants stock on April 8th. The trade occurred in the Representative's "JP MORGAN BROKERAGE ACCOUNT" account.

Representative Robert Bresnahan, Jr. also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META on 4/17/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META on 4/16/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Western Digital NASDAQ: WDC on 4/11/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOG on 4/11/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Texas Instruments NASDAQ: TXN on 4/11/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of NVIDIA NASDAQ: NVDA on 4/11/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Western Digital NASDAQ: WDC on 4/10/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of DexCom NASDAQ: DXCM on 4/8/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Invesco NYSE: IVZ on 4/8/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Generac NYSE: GNRC on 4/8/2025.

Darden Restaurants Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE DRI traded up $3.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $210.43. 186,257 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,290,226. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $135.87 and a one year high of $211.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.08. The stock has a market cap of $24.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. Darden Restaurants had a return on equity of 50.12% and a net margin of 9.01%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. Darden Restaurants's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Darden Restaurants's payout ratio is 63.13%.

Institutional Trading of Darden Restaurants

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Impact Investors Inc bought a new position in Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter valued at about $405,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 14,912 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 358,891 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $67,001,000 after buying an additional 13,074 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 146,460 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $27,343,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QV Investors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 87,702 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $16,373,000 after acquiring an additional 3,580 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,249,066.84. This trade represents a 25.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total value of $474,418.14. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DRI. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.38.

About Representative Bresnahan

Rob Bresnahan Jr. (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2025. His current term ends on January 3, 2027. Bresnahan (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election. Rob Bresnahan Jr. was born in Kingston, Pennsylvania. He earned a B.S. in business administration, management and operations from the University of Scranton in 2012. His career experience includes working as the chief financial officer and CEO of a family business, an electrical contracting company.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V's Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.