Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,940,000 shares, an increase of 11.2% from the March 15th total of 8,040,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,050,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days. Approximately 5.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DAR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens reduced their price target on Darling Ingredients from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Darling Ingredients from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Darling Ingredients from $73.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kurt Stoffel purchased 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $41.62 per share, with a total value of $332,960.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,571 shares in the company, valued at $439,965.02. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darling Ingredients

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DAR. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Darling Ingredients by 1,412.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 499 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Darling Ingredients in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new stake in Darling Ingredients in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Darling Ingredients during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in Darling Ingredients by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 600 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.44% of the company’s stock.

Darling Ingredients Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE DAR opened at $44.39 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.86. Darling Ingredients has a one year low of $38.97 and a one year high of $71.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 1.29.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Darling Ingredients had a return on equity of 15.05% and a net margin of 9.54%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darling Ingredients will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Darling Ingredients Company Profile

Darling Ingredients Inc develops, produces, and sells natural ingredients from edible and inedible bio-nutrients in North America, Europe, China, South America, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Feed Ingredients, Food Ingredients, and Fuel Ingredients. It offers ingredients and customized specialty solutions for customers in the pharmaceutical, food, pet food, feed, industrial, fuel, bioenergy, and fertilizer industries.