Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) by 75.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 287,082 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 123,839 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Darling Ingredients were worth $14,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its position in Darling Ingredients by 10.4% during the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 4,755,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,256,000 after buying an additional 446,483 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 10.9% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,858,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,399,000 after buying an additional 378,304 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Darling Ingredients by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,204,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,257,000 after purchasing an additional 272,184 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS grew its stake in Darling Ingredients by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 1,492,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,369,000 after purchasing an additional 208,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Darling Ingredients by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,383,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,200,000 after purchasing an additional 263,599 shares in the last quarter. 94.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Darling Ingredients from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. 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, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Darling Ingredients from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stephens cut their price target 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. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on Darling Ingredients from $73.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.55.

Insider Activity at Darling Ingredients

In other news, Director Kurt Stoffel acquired 8,000 shares of Darling Ingredients stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $41.62 per share, with a total value of $332,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,571 shares in the company, valued at $439,965.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.62% of the company’s stock.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DAR opened at $42.83 on Friday. Darling Ingredients Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.97 and a 52-week high of $71.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 4.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.45.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Darling Ingredients had a net margin of 8.46% and a return on equity of 12.27%. Darling Ingredients’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darling Ingredients 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.