Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,940,000 shares, an increase of 11.2% from the March 15th total of 8,040,000 shares. Currently, 5.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,050,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

Darling Ingredients stock traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.38. 1,497,275 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,047,451. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.80. Darling Ingredients has a fifty-two week low of $38.97 and a fifty-two week high of $71.60. The stock has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.12). Darling Ingredients had a return on equity of 15.05% and a net margin of 9.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Darling Ingredients will post 3.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DAR has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $73.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kurt Stoffel acquired 8,000 shares of Darling Ingredients stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $41.62 per share, for a total transaction of $332,960.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $439,965.02. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Darling Ingredients

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 38.9% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 689 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC grew its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 3,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 1.3% during the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,034,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Darling Ingredients by 5.0% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. 94.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.