Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR)

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 25,231 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,920% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,249 call options.

Darling Ingredients Price Performance

Darling Ingredients stock opened at $33.10 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $34.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13 and a beta of 1.19. Darling Ingredients has a 12-month low of $27.20 and a 12-month high of $48.39.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on DAR shares. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Darling Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Darling Ingredients from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Darling Ingredients has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.75.

Institutional Trading of Darling Ingredients

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Darling Ingredients during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of Darling Ingredients by 157.1% during 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 stake in shares of Darling Ingredients during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $86,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Darling Ingredients by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Darling Ingredients during the 4th quarter valued at about $109,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.44% of the company’s stock.

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.