Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) Trading Up 5.1% – Here’s Why

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR)’s stock price rose 5.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $31.73 and last traded at $31.99. Approximately 1,248,261 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 2,265,940 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on DAR. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Darling Ingredients from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darling Ingredients has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.33.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 18.49 and a beta of 1.19.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.36). The business had revenue of $1.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. Darling Ingredients had a net margin of 4.88% and a return on equity of 6.04%. Research analysts expect that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darling Ingredients

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darling Ingredients by 148.9% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,393,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,627,785 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Darling Ingredients in the fourth quarter valued at $63,956,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 203.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,844,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235,985 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,453,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,425,000 after acquiring an additional 791,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 266.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 973,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,799,000 after acquiring an additional 708,035 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.44% of the company’s stock.

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.