Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) Stock Sees Unusually High Call Option Buying

Key Points

• Call-option activity surged: Investors purchased 23,197 Darling Ingredients call options, roughly 972% above the typical volume of 2,164.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: Darling Ingredients has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $73.80, despite mixed recent rating changes.
• Institutional ownership is high: Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.44% of the company, while recent insider activity included a director purchase and executive stock sale.

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 23,197 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 972% compared to the typical volume of 2,164 call options.

Insider Transactions at Darling Ingredients

In other Darling Ingredients news, Director Charles L. Adair bought 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $60.97 per share, with a total value of $60,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 51,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,151,539.30. The trade was a 1.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Patrick McNutt sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.09, for a total value of $536,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 35,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,400,278.93. The trade was a 18.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,591 shares of company stock worth $704,303. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Darling Ingredients

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 69.9% in the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 423 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 2.6% in the first quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC grew its stake in Darling Ingredients by 3.3% during the third quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 6,661 shares of the company's stock worth $407,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,487 shares of the company's stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Darling Ingredients by 35.0% in the first quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,042 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. 94.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Darling Ingredients to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on Darling Ingredients from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Darling Ingredients from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research cut Darling Ingredients from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Darling Ingredients from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darling Ingredients currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.80.

Darling Ingredients Price Performance

Shares of DAR traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.12. 1,006,778 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,568,113. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.95. The company has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Darling Ingredients has a 52-week low of $31.48 and a 52-week high of $69.98.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $1.01. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. Darling Ingredients had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 9.13%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Darling Ingredients will post 7.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Darling Ingredients

Darling Ingredients Inc NYSE: DAR is a global developer and producer of sustainable ingredients and renewable energy solutions. The company collects and transforms animal by-products, used cooking oil, food waste and other organic materials into value-added products, helping divert waste from landfills and recover materials for reuse.

Its products include fats, proteins, meals, collagen, gelatin and specialty ingredients used in animal feed, pet food, food, pharmaceuticals and industrial applications.

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