Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 144,305 Shares of Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc decreased its position in Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) by 45.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 173,505 shares of the company’s stock after selling 144,305 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Darling Ingredients were worth $5,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DAR. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 32.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,332,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,529,000 after buying an additional 328,893 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 1,257 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 142.1% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 13,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 7,731 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Darling Ingredients in the fourth quarter worth about $219,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 203.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,844,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,134,000 after buying an additional 1,235,985 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DAR has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Darling Ingredients from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Darling Ingredients from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Darling Ingredients from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Darling Ingredients from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.33.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

NYSE:DAR opened at $36.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Darling Ingredients Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.00 and a 1 year high of $47.28. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.17. The company has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21 and a beta of 1.25.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. Darling Ingredients had a return on equity of 6.04% and a net margin of 4.88%. Darling Ingredients’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Darling Ingredients

Darling Ingredients Inc develops, produces, and sells natural ingredients from edible and inedible bio-nutrients in North America, Europe, China, South America, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Feed Ingredients, Food Ingredients, and Fuel Ingredients. It offers ingredients and customized specialty solutions for customers in the pharmaceutical, food, pet food, feed, industrial, fuel, bioenergy, and fertilizer industries.