JPMorgan Chase & Co. Initiates Coverage on Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR)

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has restated its "overweight" rating for Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) and set a new price target of $43.00, indicating a potential upside of 38.78% from its previous close.
• Darling Ingredients reported earnings per share of $0.09 for the last quarter, missing estimates, and its revenue of $1.48 billion was also below expectations.
• While one analyst rated the stock as a Strong Buy, the overall consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target around $43.57, despite recent mixed ratings from other firms.

Stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR - Get Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set an "overweight" rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target points to a potential upside of 23.64% from the stock's current price.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on DAR. Wall Street Zen raised Darling Ingredients from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Baird R W lowered Darling Ingredients from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised Darling Ingredients from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darling Ingredients has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.57.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

NYSE DAR traded up $2.9580 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $34.7780. 5,291,981 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,992,435. Darling Ingredients has a 1 year low of $26.00 and a 1 year high of $43.49. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $35.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.69 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Darling Ingredients news, CEO Randall C. Stuewe sold 35,000 shares of Darling Ingredients stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.92, for a total transaction of $1,082,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 781,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,162,032.04. The trade was a 4.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DAR. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,627,785 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Darling Ingredients during the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,041,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 973.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,502,084 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,989,000 after buying an additional 1,362,137 shares in the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 66.0% during the 2nd quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 3,323,470 shares of the company's stock valued at $126,092,000 after buying an additional 1,320,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gates Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,915,560 shares of the company's stock valued at $247,282,000 after buying an additional 1,247,117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.44% of the company's stock.

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.