Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Position in Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 114,409 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,496 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Darling Ingredients were worth $3,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DAR. Ironwood Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darling Ingredients by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Ironwood Investment Management LLC now owns 41,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,414,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Darling Ingredients by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 312,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,538,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Darling Ingredients by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 66,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,256,000 after buying an additional 9,855 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Darling Ingredients in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,509,000. Finally, Barings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Darling Ingredients by 98.2% in the fourth quarter. Barings LLC now owns 149,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,049,000 after buying an additional 74,260 shares during the period. 94.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Darling Ingredients Trading Down 1.7 %

DAR opened at $29.87 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.66. The company has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 1.25. Darling Ingredients Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.20 and a 52 week high of $48.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts forecast that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DAR shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on Darling Ingredients from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Darling Ingredients from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.75.

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.