Darling Ingredients has had a sweetheart of a run from the Covid crash bottom in 2020. Its stock soared an amazing 610% from a late March 2020 intraday low of 10.25 to trade at 72.17 Monday afternoon, up 2.2%. And on Monday Darling stock's IBD SmartSelect Composite Rating edged up to 96, from 94, near a best-possible 99. Darling will announce fourth quarter earnings results after the close Monday.
The new rating shows Darling stock is outpacing 96% of all stocks when it comes to the most important stock-picking criteria.
Darling Stock Rises On Profit, Sales Increases
The company's growth is via both organic growth and acquisitions. Darling Ingredients recovers cooking oil from the food and restaurant industries and recycles it. In December, Darling announced it would buy Valley Proteins, a major rendering and used cooking oils facility, for $1.1 billion cash.
In terms of fundamentals, Darling reported 44% earnings growth for Q3, to 88 cents per share. The prior three periods its EPS reversed from a 51% drop in Q4 2020 to growth of 76% and then 200%. Last quarter its top line grew 39% to $1.19 billion, its fourth quarter in a row of double-digit sales growth.
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Meanwhile, Darling stock's Accumulation/Distribution Rating of B, on an A+ to E scale, shows moderate buying by institutional investors over the last 13 weeks.
Additionally, Darling sports a 97 EPS Rating, meaning its recent quarterly and annual earnings growth is outpacing 97% of all stocks.
Darling stock is not currently near a proper buy point. Look for the stock to form and break out of a new base such as a double-bottom base, for example. Or it could offer a fresh buying opportunity with a bounce off its 50-day or 10-week line.
Darling Ingredients holds the No. 2 rank among its peers in the Agricultural Operations industry group. Bunge is the top-ranked stock within the group. Corteva and Bioceres Crop are also among the top five ranked companies in the group.
