Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 15,933 Shares of Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) by 111.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,212 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,933 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Darling Ingredients were worth $1,506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Darling Ingredients in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Darling Ingredients by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in Darling Ingredients in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Darling Ingredients during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Darling Ingredients during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. 94.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

DAR opened at $44.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $43.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.58. Darling Ingredients Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.97 and a 52-week high of $71.60.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Darling Ingredients had a net margin of 9.54% and a return on equity of 15.05%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Darling Ingredients

In other news, Director Kurt Stoffel purchased 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $41.62 per share, with a total value of $332,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $439,965.02. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DAR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank dropped their price target on 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Darling Ingredients from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Darling Ingredients from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Darling Ingredients from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.55.

About Darling Ingredients

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.