Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $38.25, but opened at $36.50. Darling Ingredients shares last traded at $37.97, with a volume of 798,432 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.29). Darling Ingredients had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 6.04%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. Darling Ingredients’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DAR shares. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Darling Ingredients from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Darling Ingredients from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Darling Ingredients has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Robert W. Day acquired 2,532 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.37 per share, with a total value of $99,684.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,337.59. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Darling Ingredients

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DAR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Darling Ingredients by 52.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,236,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,445,000 after buying an additional 1,800,809 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Darling Ingredients by 55.0% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,562,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,683,000 after acquiring an additional 554,512 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Darling Ingredients by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,829,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,725,000 after acquiring an additional 470,170 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Darling Ingredients during the 2nd quarter valued at $15,406,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Darling Ingredients by 942.1% during the first quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 392,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,240,000 after purchasing an additional 354,532 shares during the period. 94.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.24.

Darling Ingredients Company 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.