Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) Stock Gets Downgrade from Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Darling Ingredients from “strong buy” to “buy,” though the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $73.80.
• Darling Ingredients reported quarterly EPS of $1.67, slightly below the $1.70 consensus estimate, while revenue matched expectations at $1.79 billion.
• Insiders sold 10,591 shares worth approximately $704,303 over the past three months, while institutional investors own a substantial 94.44% of the company’s stock.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on DAR. Barclays lifted their target price on Darling Ingredients from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Darling Ingredients to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Darling Ingredients from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $73.80.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

DAR opened at $55.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Darling Ingredients has a 1-year low of $31.48 and a 1-year high of $69.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.20.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.70 by ($0.03). Darling Ingredients had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 17.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Darling Ingredients will post 7.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Darling Ingredients

In related news, EVP Patrick McNutt sold 8,000 shares of Darling Ingredients stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.09, for a total value of $536,720.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 35,777 shares in the company, valued at $2,400,278.93. The trade was a 18.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Kemphaus sold 1,591 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.05, for a total value of $100,312.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,087 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,235.35. This trade represents a 4.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 10,591 shares of company stock valued at $704,303 in the last three months. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darling Ingredients

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Darling Ingredients in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $851,450,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Darling Ingredients by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,066,971 shares of the company's stock worth $498,927,000 after buying an additional 47,565 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Darling Ingredients during the 2nd quarter valued at $168,348,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Darling Ingredients during the 2nd quarter valued at $129,371,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,212,634 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,854,000 after buying an additional 120,674 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.44% of the company's stock.

About Darling Ingredients

Darling Ingredients Inc NYSE: DAR is a global developer and producer of sustainable ingredients and renewable energy solutions. The company collects and transforms animal by-products, used cooking oil, food waste and other organic materials into value-added products, helping divert waste from landfills and recover materials for reuse.

Its products include fats, proteins, meals, collagen, gelatin and specialty ingredients used in animal feed, pet food, food, pharmaceuticals and industrial applications.

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