Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Darling Ingredients shares opened higher, rising from a prior close of $60.26 to $62.21, though the stock last traded near $61.62.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $72.40 price target; UBS and TD Cowen recently raised their targets to $88 and $80, respectively.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, posting $2.41 in EPS versus the $1.40 consensus estimate and 16.4% year-over-year revenue growth. However, insiders sold more than $704,000 of stock over the past 90 days.

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $60.26, but opened at $62.21. Darling Ingredients shares last traded at $61.6160, with a volume of 92,332 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DAR shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Darling Ingredients from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Zacks Research cut shares of Darling Ingredients from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Darling Ingredients to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. 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 research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Darling Ingredients from $78.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darling Ingredients has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $72.40.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.14. The firm has a market cap of $9.65 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48 and a beta of 1.04.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $1.01. Darling Ingredients had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 12.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.08 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 7.05 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darling Ingredients

In other Darling Ingredients news, EVP Patrick McNutt sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.09, for a total transaction of $536,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,777 shares in the company, valued at $2,400,278.93. This represents a 18.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Joseph Manzi sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.27, for a total value of $67,270.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 18,969 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,044.63. This trade represents a 5.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 10,591 shares of company stock worth $704,303 in the last 90 days. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darling Ingredients

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Darling Ingredients in the second quarter worth about $851,450,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Darling Ingredients during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $168,348,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Darling Ingredients during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $129,371,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darling Ingredients during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $118,952,000. Finally, Man Group plc purchased a new position in shares of Darling Ingredients during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $78,876,000. Institutional investors own 94.44% of the company's stock.

About Darling Ingredients

Darling Ingredients Inc is a global developer and producer of sustainable ingredients created from animal by-products, food waste and used cooking oil. The company collects and transforms these materials into products used in animal feed, pet food, agriculture, food, fuel and other industrial applications.

Its products include rendered fats and proteins, specialty feed ingredients, fertilizer inputs, collagen and gelatin, and bioenergy feedstocks. Through its renewable diesel operations, including the Diamond Green Diesel joint venture, Darling also converts low-carbon waste fats and oils into renewable fuel.

Founded in 1882, Darling Ingredients has grown from a U.S.

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