Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 8,778 Shares of Darling Ingredients Inc. $DAR

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,280,878 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,778 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Darling Ingredients were worth $46,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DAR. No Street GP LP bought a new stake in shares of Darling Ingredients during the 3rd quarter worth $69,458,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 184.5% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 846,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,111,000 after buying an additional 548,844 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 608.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 634,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,583,000 after buying an additional 544,821 shares in the last quarter. Goodlander Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Darling Ingredients by 226.1% during the second quarter. Goodlander Investment Management LLC now owns 750,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,455,000 after purchasing an additional 520,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,394,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,196,000 after purchasing an additional 512,219 shares during the last quarter. 94.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on DAR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research note on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Darling Ingredients Price Performance

DAR opened at $63.14 on Friday. Darling Ingredients Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.15 and a 12-month high of $66.02. The company has a current ratio of 4.64, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.80. The company has a market cap of $10.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.75 and a beta of 1.07.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.27. Darling Ingredients had a return on equity of 5.76% and a net margin of 3.54%.The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.16) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 4.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Darling Ingredients

In related news, CAO Joseph Manzi sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.89, for a total transaction of $191,670.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 19,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,819.41. This trade represents a 13.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Randall C. Stuewe sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.12, for a total value of $1,042,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,117,085 shares in the company, valued at $58,222,470.20. This trade represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Darling Ingredients Profile

Darling Ingredients Inc (NYSE: DAR) is a global leader in converting edible and inedible bio-nutrient streams into sustainable food, feed ingredients, renewable fuels and specialty products. Founded in 1882 and headquartered in Irving, Texas, the company builds on more than a century of experience in animal rendering and by-product recycling. Over time, Darling has expanded its capabilities beyond traditional rendering to include advanced processing technologies that support a circular economy and reduce waste from food and agricultural industries.

The company’s core operations revolve around four primary segments: Feed Ingredients & Services, Food & Nutrition, Fuel Ingredients & Services, and Specialty Ingredients.