Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI Stock Position Lowered by Earnest Partners LLC

Key Points

• Earnest Partners trimmed its stake in Darden by 1.1% in Q3, selling 15,747 shares and leaving 1,481,084 shares (about 1.27% of DRI) valued at roughly $281.9 million, making Darden its 15th largest holding.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently: Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares and SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares, with insiders offloading 18,770 shares worth about $3.95 million in the past 90 days (insiders now own ~0.49% of the stock).
• Analysts maintain a "Moderate Buy" consensus with a $224.33 average target; Darden slightly missed quarterly EPS ($2.08 vs. $2.10) while revenue rose 7.3%, set FY2026 guidance of $10.50–$10.70 EPS, and pays a $6.00 annual dividend (≈3.0% yield).

Earnest Partners LLC decreased its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,481,084 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after selling 15,747 shares during the quarter. Darden Restaurants comprises approximately 1.2% of Earnest Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 1.27% of Darden Restaurants worth $281,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. MAI Capital Management raised its position in Darden Restaurants by 0.7% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 7,177 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $1,564,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. apricus wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Embree Financial Group grew its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 1,681 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 3,597 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $784,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on DRI. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $207.00 price target (down from $240.00) on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $224.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Todd Burrowes sold 7,103 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.12, for a total transaction of $1,471,173.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 44,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,165,474.24. The trade was a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,635 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.36, for a total value of $546,393.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at $849,761.28. The trade was a 39.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,770 shares of company stock worth $3,948,970. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Darden Restaurants stock opened at $202.36 on Friday. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.00 and a fifty-two week high of $228.27. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $207.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.68. 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 company has a market cap of $23.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.61.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 52.44%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.700 EPS. As a group, equities 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 was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Darden Restaurants's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DRI? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.