Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Darling Ingredients Inc. has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from nine analysts, with a target price of $43.57.
• CEO Randall C. Stuewe sold 35,000 shares at an average price of $30.92, resulting in a 4.29% decrease in his ownership stake.
• Institutional investors own 94.44% of Darling Ingredients' shares, with Thrivent Financial significantly increasing its stake by 93.3% in the recent quarter.

Shares of Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nine analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.5714.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Baird R W cut shares of Darling Ingredients from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and set a $36.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Randall C. Stuewe sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.92, for a total value of $1,082,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 781,437 shares in the company, valued at $24,162,032.04. This represents a 4.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Darling Ingredients

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Darling Ingredients by 93.3% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 72,670 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,757,000 after buying an additional 35,079 shares during the period. Marex Group plc acquired a new position in Darling Ingredients in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,925,000. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in Darling Ingredients in the 2nd quarter valued at $210,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Darling Ingredients by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,464 shares of the company's stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 2,177 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc increased its stake in Darling Ingredients by 116.1% in the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 500,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,998,000 after buying an additional 269,037 shares during the period. 94.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darling Ingredients Trading Down 2.9%

NYSE DAR opened at $32.97 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Darling Ingredients has a 52 week low of $26.00 and a 52 week high of $43.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a PE ratio of 49.95 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.42.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.03). Darling Ingredients had a return on equity of 2.35% and a net margin of 1.85%.The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Darling Ingredients will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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