Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.55.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DAR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Darling Ingredients from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Stephens reduced their target price on Darling Ingredients from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 29th.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

DAR opened at $42.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.71 and a beta of 1.29. Darling Ingredients has a 52-week low of $38.97 and a 52-week high of $71.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.86. The business’s fifty day moving average is $43.85 and its 200-day moving average is $44.67.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Darling Ingredients

In other news, Director Kurt Stoffel bought 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $41.62 per share, for a total transaction of $332,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $439,965.02. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darling Ingredients

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 106.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 818,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,724,000 after buying an additional 422,822 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 629,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,301,000 after buying an additional 35,290 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 4.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 758,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,619,000 after buying an additional 32,147 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 14.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 195,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,203,000 after buying an additional 24,379 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 55.4% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 109,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,477,000 after buying an additional 39,175 shares during the period. 94.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.