Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) Trading 3.4% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 3.4% during trading on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $46.00 to $48.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Darling Ingredients traded as high as $45.59 and last traded at $44.78. 1,739,591 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 1,996,997 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.30.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on DAR. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price objective (down from $120.00) on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.00.

Insider Activity at Darling Ingredients

In other Darling Ingredients news, Director Kurt Stoffel purchased 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $41.62 per share, for a total transaction of $332,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $439,965.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darling Ingredients

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,378,170 shares of the company's stock worth $766,448,000 after buying an additional 83,219 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 107,533.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,663,509 shares of the company's stock worth $479,659,000 after buying an additional 7,656,389 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 10.4% during the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 4,755,861 shares of the company's stock worth $248,256,000 after buying an additional 446,483 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 1.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,617,316 shares of the company's stock worth $276,115,000 after buying an additional 61,858 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 2.5% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,900,896 shares of the company's stock worth $227,812,000 after buying an additional 96,983 shares during the period. 94.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $7.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.29 and a beta of 1.29. The company's 50-day moving average price is $43.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.42.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Darling Ingredients had a return on equity of 15.05% and a net margin of 9.54%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.