Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Buys 26,500 Shares of Darling Ingredients Inc. $DAR

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. significantly increased its stake in Darling Ingredients Inc. by purchasing an additional 26,500 shares, bringing their total holdings to 27,272 shares valued at approximately $852,000.
• CEO Randall C. Stuewe sold 35,000 shares of the company, decreasing his position by 4.29%, while insiders currently own only 2.07% of the stock.
• Despite a slight miss in earnings per share with reported results of $0.09 vs. the expected $0.12, Darling Ingredients saw a revenue increase of 1.8% year-over-year, totaling $1.48 billion.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR - Free Report) by 3,432.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,272 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,500 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Darling Ingredients were worth $852,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in Darling Ingredients in the 1st quarter valued at about $149,000. Sprott Inc. grew its stake in Darling Ingredients by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 6,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP grew its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 48.3% during the 1st quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 162,204 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,067,000 after purchasing an additional 52,861 shares in the last quarter. Credit Agricole S A boosted its stake in Darling Ingredients by 28.0% during the first quarter. Credit Agricole S A now owns 155,514 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,858,000 after buying an additional 34,009 shares during the period. Finally, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. bought a new stake in Darling Ingredients during the first quarter valued at $244,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Darling Ingredients from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Darling Ingredients in a report on Friday, July 25th. Baird R W lowered shares of Darling Ingredients from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Darling Ingredients from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darling Ingredients has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.57.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DAR traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $32.01. The company had a trading volume of 376,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,356,510. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.53 and a beta of 1.16. Darling Ingredients Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.00 and a 12-month high of $43.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $34.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.34.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 781,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,162,032.04. This represents a 4.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.62% of the company's stock.

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.