Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Shares Sold by Tectonic Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Tectonic Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Darden Restaurants by 18.7% in Q2, now holding 6,298 shares valued at approximately $1.37 million.
• Darden's recent quarterly earnings missed estimates slightly, reporting $1.97 EPS against a $2.01 consensus, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 10.4%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, yielding 3.2%, and initiated a share buyback plan to repurchase up to $1 billion in shares.

Tectonic Advisors LLC decreased its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,298 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 1,446 shares during the quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC's holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $1,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bowman & Co S.C. increased its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 9,631 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,099,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 32.2% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 201 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 2.5% during the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,975 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 15.8% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 381 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Darden Restaurants by 3.2% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on DRI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $239.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Melius Research upgraded Darden Restaurants to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $245.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.59.

Darden Restaurants Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of DRI stock opened at $186.63 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $201.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $205.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.40. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.18 and a twelve month high of $228.27. The company has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.77.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by ($0.04). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 52.35%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.31%.

Darden Restaurants announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, June 20th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the restaurant operator to reacquire up to 3.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 523 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.65, for a total value of $107,031.95. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,423 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,109,816.95. This trade represents a 8.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $1,094,837.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,916 shares in the company, valued at $2,691,354.40. This trade represents a 28.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,674 shares of company stock worth $1,507,575 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

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.

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