Bruce & Co. Inc. Sells 60,000 Shares of Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR)

Bruce & Co. Inc. lowered its stake in Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) by 29.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 141,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 60,000 shares during the quarter. Darling Ingredients makes up 1.5% of Bruce & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Bruce & Co. Inc. owned about 0.09% of Darling Ingredients worth $4,750,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DAR. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 203.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,844,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235,985 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co boosted its holdings in Darling Ingredients by 2,140.4% in the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 877,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,597,000 after purchasing an additional 838,047 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Darling Ingredients during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,545,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,324,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,528,000 after purchasing an additional 491,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd raised its position in shares of Darling Ingredients by 2,200.7% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 477,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,078,000 after buying an additional 456,482 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.44% of the company’s stock.

Darling Ingredients Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DAR opened at $30.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $35.79 and its 200 day moving average is $36.76. The stock has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.58 and a beta of 1.25. Darling Ingredients Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.20 and a 1-year high of $48.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Darling Ingredients (NYSE:DAR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.63 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Darling Ingredients Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DAR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on Darling Ingredients from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Darling Ingredients from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Darling Ingredients in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Darling Ingredients currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.75.

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.