Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) Stock Jumps 3.7% – Time to Buy?

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR)’s share price shot up 3.7% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $61.27 and last traded at $62.2340. Approximately 32,110 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 99% from the average daily volume of 2,592,927 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on DAR shares. Zacks Research downgraded Darling Ingredients from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings raised Darling Ingredients from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Darling Ingredients from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Darling Ingredients to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.40.

Darling Ingredients Stock Up 4.0%

The stock has a market cap of $9.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $63.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.06.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $1.01. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Darling Ingredients had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 12.98%. The company’s revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.08 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Patrick McNutt sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.09, for a total value of $536,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 35,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,400,278.93. This represents a 18.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Joseph Manzi sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.27, for a total value of $67,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 18,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,044.63. The trade was a 5.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,591 shares of company stock valued at $704,303. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darling Ingredients

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Darling Ingredients in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $851,450,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,066,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $498,927,000 after buying an additional 47,565 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Darling Ingredients in the second quarter worth $168,348,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Darling Ingredients in the second quarter worth $129,371,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 5.8% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,212,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,854,000 after acquiring an additional 120,674 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.44% of the company’s stock.

About Darling Ingredients

Darling Ingredients Inc is a global developer and producer of sustainable ingredients created from animal by-products, food waste and used cooking oil. The company collects and transforms these materials into products used in animal feed, pet food, agriculture, food, fuel and other industrial applications.

Its products include rendered fats and proteins, specialty feed ingredients, fertilizer inputs, collagen and gelatin, and bioenergy feedstocks. Through its renewable diesel operations, including the Diamond Green Diesel joint venture, Darling also converts low-carbon waste fats and oils into renewable fuel.

Founded in 1882, Darling Ingredients has grown from a U.S.