Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $36.05, but opened at $38.25. Darling Ingredients shares last traded at $38.96, with a volume of 135,152 shares traded.

The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Darling Ingredients had a return on equity of 5.98% and a net margin of 4.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DAR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Darling Ingredients presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.22.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DAR. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in Darling Ingredients by 266.6% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 103,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,860,000 after acquiring an additional 75,540 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 107,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,010,000 after purchasing an additional 20,323 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Darling Ingredients in the third quarter worth about $30,545,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 4.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,093,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,635,000 after acquiring an additional 42,921 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 203.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,844,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235,985 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.44% of the company’s stock.

Darling Ingredients Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.53 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.41.

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.