Candriam S.C.A. Decreases Stake in Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR)

Candriam S.C.A. reduced its holdings in Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) by 78.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 92,677 shares of the company’s stock after selling 347,020 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Darling Ingredients were worth $3,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darling Ingredients in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 157.1% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darling Ingredients in the third quarter worth about $58,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 69.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 42.5% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. 94.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Darling Ingredients from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Darling Ingredients from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.75.

Darling Ingredients Price Performance

Darling Ingredients stock opened at $32.24 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.42. The company has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64 and a beta of 1.25. Darling Ingredients Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.87 and a 1 year high of $48.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Darling Ingredients had a net margin of 4.88% and a return on equity of 6.04%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 2.81 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.