Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) Shares Up 4.7%

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR)’s share price was up 4.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $45.21 and last traded at $45.15. Approximately 3,134,323 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 52% from the average daily volume of 2,066,884 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on DAR shares. Citigroup lifted 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. Stephens dropped their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on Darling Ingredients from $73.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Darling Ingredients presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.55.

Darling Ingredients Stock Down 1.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 4.20. The firm has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $44.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.56.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last issued its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. Darling Ingredients had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 8.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. Research analysts expect that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kurt Stoffel purchased 8,000 shares of Darling Ingredients stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $41.62 per share, with a total value of $332,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $439,965.02. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darling Ingredients

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 238,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,855,000 after purchasing an additional 46,820 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 53.1% in the 1st quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 24,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 8,360 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 24.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,279,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,028,000 after purchasing an additional 851,886 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 4,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC raised its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 4,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. 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.