Darling Ingredients Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:DAR)

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 5,530 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 178% compared to the average volume of 1,988 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Darling Ingredients from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup cut their price target on Darling Ingredients from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Darling Ingredients from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Darling Ingredients from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darling Ingredients currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 8,987 shares of the company's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Ironwood Investment Management LLC now owns 41,957 shares of the company's stock worth $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,105 shares of the company's stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 2.0% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 20,183 shares of the company's stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 1.1% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 38,074 shares of the company's stock worth $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 94.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

Shares of DAR stock traded up $1.45 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $32.93. The company had a trading volume of 4,384,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,169,611. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $31.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.92. Darling Ingredients has a 52-week low of $26.00 and a 52-week high of $43.49. The stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.36). Darling Ingredients had a net margin of 4.88% and a return on equity of 6.04%. The company had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Darling Ingredients will post 2.81 earnings per share 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.