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

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Darling Ingredients from “strong buy” to “buy.” Despite other mixed rating changes, analysts’ consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $73.80.
• Darling reported quarterly EPS of $1.67, slightly below the $1.70 consensus estimate; revenue of $1.79 billion matched expectations. Analysts forecast full-year EPS of $6.85.
• DAR opened at $56.00, with a 12-month trading range of $31.81 to $69.98. Institutional investors own 94.44% of the company’s shares.

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

DAR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Darling Ingredients to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Zacks Research lowered Darling Ingredients from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Darling Ingredients from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.80.

Darling Ingredients Price Performance

DAR stock opened at $56.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $59.79 and a 200-day moving average of $58.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Darling Ingredients has a 12 month low of $31.81 and a 12 month high of $69.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.97 and a beta of 1.00.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $1.67 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 17.40%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Darling Ingredients will post 6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Darling Ingredients

In other Darling Ingredients news, CAO Joseph Manzi sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.27, for a total value of $67,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 18,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,276,044.63. The trade was a 5.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles L. Adair purchased 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $51.19 per share, for a total transaction of $25,595.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 52,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,671,606.10. The trade was a 0.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Darling Ingredients

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Darling Ingredients in the second quarter valued at $851,450,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Darling Ingredients by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,066,971 shares of the company's stock valued at $498,927,000 after purchasing an additional 47,565 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Darling Ingredients during the second quarter valued at about $168,348,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in Darling Ingredients by 1.8% during the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 2,216,200 shares of the company's stock worth $134,546,000 after purchasing an additional 38,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Darling Ingredients during the second quarter worth about $129,371,000. 94.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Darling Ingredients

Darling Ingredients Inc. collects and transforms animal by-products and other organic materials into ingredients and products used in food, animal feed, fuel and other markets. Its operations help convert materials from meat processing, food production and used cooking oils into usable fats, proteins, oils and other ingredients. The company's businesses span feed ingredients, food ingredients and fuel ingredients. Products include animal nutrition ingredients, gelatin and collagen, and fats and oils used in food and industrial applications.

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