Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $70.80.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $73.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kurt Stoffel bought 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $41.62 per share, with a total value of $332,960.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 10,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $439,965.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darling Ingredients

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 111.6% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 30,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,506,000 after purchasing an additional 15,933 shares during the period. NFC Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Darling Ingredients in the fourth quarter worth about $22,473,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Darling Ingredients by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,008,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,250,000 after acquiring an additional 226,134 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Darling Ingredients by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 629,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,301,000 after acquiring an additional 35,290 shares during the period. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council lifted its stake in Darling Ingredients by 86.3% in the fourth quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 71,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,587,000 after acquiring an additional 33,332 shares during the period. 94.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darling Ingredients Trading Down 2.2 %

Darling Ingredients stock opened at $41.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Darling Ingredients has a 1 year low of $38.97 and a 1 year high of $71.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $44.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.55.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Darling Ingredients had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 8.46%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Darling Ingredients will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.