Schroder Investment Management Group Increases Stake in Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR)

Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) by 19.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,425,277 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 389,980 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 1.52% of Darling Ingredients worth $80,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,279,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,120,000 after buying an additional 291,138 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 1,254,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,267,000 after acquiring an additional 25,022 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Darling Ingredients in the 4th quarter valued at $63,956,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Darling Ingredients in the fourth quarter worth $884,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,567,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,486,000 after purchasing an additional 203,921 shares during the last quarter. 94.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DAR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Darling Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Darling Ingredients from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.75.

Darling Ingredients Price Performance

Shares of DAR opened at $31.58 on Monday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.46. Darling Ingredients Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.20 and a fifty-two week high of $48.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25 and a beta of 1.25.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.15. Darling Ingredients had a return on equity of 6.04% and a net margin of 4.88%. Equities analysts predict that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darling Ingredients Profile

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.