Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.22.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DAR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Darling Ingredients from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Darling Ingredients from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Darling Ingredients from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Darling Ingredients Trading Up 1.0 %

Darling Ingredients stock opened at $40.90 on Friday. Darling Ingredients has a 1 year low of $32.55 and a 1 year high of $48.39. The firm has a market cap of $6.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.55.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. Darling Ingredients had a return on equity of 6.04% and a net margin of 4.88%. On average, research analysts predict that Darling Ingredients will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darling Ingredients

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Darling Ingredients by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,567,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,486,000 after buying an additional 203,921 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Darling Ingredients by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,453,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,425,000 after purchasing an additional 791,157 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 5.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,357,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,096,000 after buying an additional 289,407 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 148.9% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,393,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,005,000 after acquiring an additional 2,627,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,919,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,049,000 after purchasing an additional 595,325 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.44% of the company’s stock.

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.