Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Darling Ingredients' stock rating was downgraded from "hold" to a "strong sell" by Zacks Research, reflecting deteriorating analyst sentiment towards the company.
• Despite a recent miss on quarterly earnings with EPS reported at $0.09 versus an expected $0.12, the company reported a revenue increase of 1.8% year-over-year.
• Insider selling has occurred, with CEO Randall C. Stuewe selling 35,000 shares at an average price of $30.92, decreasing his stake by 4.29%.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Baird R W downgraded shares of Darling Ingredients from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $42.00 price target on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Darling Ingredients has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.25.

Darling Ingredients Stock Down 0.1%

Darling Ingredients stock opened at $31.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.50. Darling Ingredients has a 52-week low of $26.00 and a 52-week high of $43.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $31.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.99. The firm has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.97, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Insider Transactions at Darling Ingredients

In other Darling Ingredients news, CEO Randall C. Stuewe sold 35,000 shares of Darling Ingredients stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.92, for a total transaction of $1,082,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darling Ingredients

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,641,921 shares of the company's stock worth $488,654,000 after purchasing an additional 73,925 shares during the period. Gates Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,915,560 shares of the company's stock worth $247,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247,117 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,480,803 shares of the company's stock worth $233,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,958 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,082,416 shares of the company's stock worth $127,535,000 after purchasing an additional 36,085 shares during the period. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,693,135 shares of the company's stock worth $140,118,000 after purchasing an additional 35,309 shares during the period. 94.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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