AQR Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Darling Ingredients Inc. $DAR

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management significantly increased its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 548.4% in the first quarter, owning approximately 0.40% of the company valued at $19.6 million.
• CEO Randall C. Stuewe sold 35,000 shares of Darling Ingredients, decreasing his ownership by 4.29% and leaving him with shares valued at over $24 million.
• Darling Ingredients missed earnings estimates with an EPS of $0.09 compared to the expected $0.12, despite a revenue increase of 1.8% year-over-year.

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR - Free Report) by 548.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 635,351 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 537,356 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.40% of Darling Ingredients worth $19,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Darling Ingredients in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Darling Ingredients during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Darling Ingredients by 33.3% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 207.1% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,036 shares of the company's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 1,373 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 101.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,063 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DAR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Darling Ingredients in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Darling Ingredients from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $36.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Darling Ingredients in a report on Friday, July 25th. Baird R W lowered Darling Ingredients from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Darling Ingredients from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.57.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAR traded down $0.40 on Friday, hitting $31.52. 1,517,381 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,260,997. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.75 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $33.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.99. Darling Ingredients Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.00 and a 1-year high of $43.49.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darling Ingredients

In related news, CEO Randall C. Stuewe sold 35,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 781,437 shares in the company, valued at $24,162,032.04. The trade was a 4.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.