Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

DAR has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Darling Ingredients in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on Darling Ingredients in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Darling Ingredients from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Darling Ingredients presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.25.

Darling Ingredients Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Darling Ingredients stock opened at $31.66 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.99. The company has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Darling Ingredients has a 1 year low of $26.00 and a 1 year high of $43.49.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.03). Darling Ingredients had a return on equity of 2.35% and a net margin of 1.85%.The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Darling Ingredients will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darling Ingredients

In other news, CEO Randall C. Stuewe sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.92, for a total transaction of $1,082,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 781,437 shares in the company, valued at $24,162,032.04. The trade was a 4.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darling Ingredients

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,641,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,654,000 after purchasing an additional 73,925 shares during the period. Gates Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 18.7% during the first quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,915,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,117 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Darling Ingredients by 15.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,480,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,958 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in Darling Ingredients by 0.9% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,082,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,535,000 after acquiring an additional 36,085 shares during the period. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its stake in Darling Ingredients by 1.0% in the second quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,693,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,118,000 after acquiring an additional 35,309 shares during the period. 94.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Darling Ingredients

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.