Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 245,156 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,931 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Darling Ingredients were worth $8,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DAR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Darling Ingredients in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of Darling Ingredients by 157.1% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares during the period. Palouse Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Darling Ingredients in the 4th quarter valued at about $86,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Darling Ingredients by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the period. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Darling Ingredients during the 4th quarter worth about $145,000. 94.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DAR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Darling Ingredients from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Darling Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $51.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Darling Ingredients in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darling Ingredients presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.78.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

DAR stock opened at $30.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.75 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Darling Ingredients Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.00 and a 12-month high of $47.28.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.15. Darling Ingredients had a net margin of 4.88% and a return on equity of 6.04%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current 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.