Darling Ingredients (DAR) Competitors

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) and Medifast (NYSE:MED) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, profitability and earnings.

Which has more volatility & risk, DAR or MED?

Darling Ingredients has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Medifast has a beta of 0.82, indicating that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to DAR or MED?

In the previous week, Darling Ingredients had 14 more articles in the media than Medifast. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Darling Ingredients and 2 mentions for Medifast. Darling Ingredients' average media sentiment score of 1.75 beat Medifast's score of 1.70 indicating that Darling Ingredients is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Darling Ingredients	14 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Medifast	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do analysts rate DAR or MED?

Darling Ingredients presently has a consensus target price of $43.57, indicating a potential upside of 38.25%. Medifast has a consensus target price of $16.50, indicating a potential upside of 18.03%. Given Darling Ingredients' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Darling Ingredients is more favorable than Medifast.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Darling Ingredients	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.78
Medifast	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in DAR or MED?

94.4% of Darling Ingredients shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 95.5% of Medifast shares are held by institutional investors. 2.6% of Darling Ingredients shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Medifast shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is DAR or MED more profitable?

Darling Ingredients has a net margin of 1.85% compared to Medifast's net margin of 0.76%. Darling Ingredients' return on equity of 2.35% beat Medifast's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Darling Ingredients	1.85%	2.35%	1.05%
Medifast	0.76%	2.00%	1.50%

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, DAR or MED?

Darling Ingredients has higher revenue and earnings than Medifast. Medifast is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Darling Ingredients, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Darling Ingredients	$5.70B	0.87	$278.88M	$0.66	47.75
Medifast	$480.45M	0.32	$2.09M	$0.32	43.68

Summary

Darling Ingredients beats Medifast on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.