Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) Short Interest Up 9.3% in September

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,340,000 shares, a growth of 9.3% from the August 31st total of 9,460,000 shares. Currently, 6.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,070,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Robert W. Day purchased 2,532 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $39.37 per share, with a total value of $99,684.84. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 12,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $496,337.59. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Darling Ingredients

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DAR. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Darling Ingredients in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Darling Ingredients during the first quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 893.8% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 2,324 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 56.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DAR. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $53.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup upgraded Darling Ingredients from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.10.

Darling Ingredients Price Performance

Shares of DAR stock traded down $0.56 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $36.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,221,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,200,488. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 1.24. Darling Ingredients has a 52 week low of $32.67 and a 52 week high of $52.73.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Darling Ingredients had a net margin of 6.04% and a return on equity of 8.38%. Darling Ingredients’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Darling Ingredients will post 2.45 EPS 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.