5 Best Farmland and Agriculture Stocks To Buy According to Analysts

3. Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 34

Average Analyst Price Target Upside: 37.28%

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) is a developer, producer, and seller of natural ingredients made from edible and inedible bio-nutrients. The company operates through Feed Ingredients, Food Ingredients, and Fuel Ingredients segments.

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) is among the best farmland and agriculture stocks to buy according to analysts. Based on 10 Wall Street analysts’ ratings over the past three months, the stock has a consensus rating of Strong Buy. The average price target of $63.00 has an upside of 37.28% to the stock’s current price, as of May 8.

Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) was part of 34 hedge funds’ portfolios in the fourth quarter of 2023 with a total stake value of $750.224 million. Impax Asset Management is the most dominant shareholder in the company and has a position worth $188.219 million as of Q4 2023.

First Pacific Advisors stated the following regarding Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:

“Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) is the world’s largest rendering operation with 17% of the global market and a higher share in the core U.S. market. 28 The business is one part industrial where scale and route density are big advantages – they collect unused animal waste from slaughterhouses and butchers – and one part commodity – their plants process this waste into fats, bone meal and ingredients that trade at prices set by the global commodity markets. Finally, DAR’s Diamond Green Diesel joint venture with Valero turns animal fats into green energy – a business that benefits from renewables subsidies and tax credits. The company took on debt to make three large acquisitions in 2022, adding additional complexity as Darling integrates the acquisitions and de-levers. The stock has sold off because of weakness in Darling’s commodity end markets, falling renewable information number (RIN) prices and lower earnings and guidance reported for the second and third quarters. 29 We first purchased Darling shares in 2008 and have watched as CEO Randy Stuewe has grown Darling from a minnow to a global behemoth. As of December 31.2023, Darling trades at approximately 10x forward earnings and, despite the company’s commodity exposure and organizational complexity, we are comfortable holding a mid-sized position.”