Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) Stock Rating Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on DAR. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Darling Ingredients to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Darling Ingredients from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Darling Ingredients from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.80.

Darling Ingredients Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:DAR opened at $55.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.20. The company has a market capitalization of $8.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 1.04. Darling Ingredients has a twelve month low of $31.48 and a twelve month high of $69.98.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.70 by ($0.03). Darling Ingredients had a return on equity of 17.76% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Darling Ingredients will post 6.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Patrick McNutt sold 8,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 35,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,400,278.93. This trade represents a 18.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Kemphaus sold 1,591 shares of Darling Ingredients stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.05, for a total transaction of $100,312.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,087 shares in the company, valued at $2,212,235.35. This trade represents a 4.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 10,591 shares of company stock valued at $704,303 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darling Ingredients during the second quarter worth approximately $851,450,000. AIA Group Ltd purchased a new position in Darling Ingredients during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,453,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Darling Ingredients in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,447,000. Strs Ohio increased its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 7,554.6% during the 1st quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 286,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,735,000 after purchasing an additional 282,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Darling Ingredients in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $129,371,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.44% of the company’s stock.

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.