Darling Ingredients CEO Sells 5,000 Shares

Randall C. Stuewe, Chairman and CEO of Darling Ingredients(NYSE:DAR), sold 5,000 shares of common stock on Sept. 2, 2026, according to a recent SEC Form 4 filing.

Transaction summary

Metric	Value
Transaction value	$341,000
Shares sold	5,000
Post-transaction shares (directly held)	1,133,467
Post-transaction value	$76.6 million

Transaction value based on SEC Form 4 weighted average sale price ($68.20); post-transaction value based on Sept. 02, 2026, market close ($67.62).

Key questions

• What is the significance of this transaction relative to the insider's total equity exposure?
  The sale of 5,000 shares represents a marginal adjustment to the executive's portfolio, as he continues to hold more than 1.1 million shares of common stock directly.
• How does this disposal align with the company's recent market performance?
  Shares were priced at $68.20 at the time of the sale, following a period in which the stock had appreciated 105% over the 12 months ending Sept. 2, 2026.
• What are the primary operational segments of the issuer?
  Darling Ingredients operates by providing natural ingredients sourced from organic bio-nutrients to industries such as pharmaceuticals and pet food.
• What were the execution details regarding the share price?
  The executive disposed of the shares in multiple transactions at prices ranging from $68.00 to $68.54, resulting in the reported weighted average of $68.20 per share.

Company Overview

Metric	Value
Share Price (as of market close 2026-09-04)	$65.19
Market Capitalization	$10.3 billion
Revenue (TTM)	$6.5 billion
Net Income (TTM)	$597.9 million

Company Snapshot

• Darling Ingredients develops and produces natural ingredients sourced from organic bio-nutrients, offering both edible and inedible materials across its three primary operating segments: Feed Ingredients, Food Ingredients, and Fuel Ingredients.
• The company generates revenue by providing tailored specialty solutions and raw materials to diversified end markets, including pharmaceuticals, human food, pet food, animal feed, and industrial manufacturing sectors.
• Darling Ingredients serves a broad customer base spanning multinational food manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, animal nutrition producers, and industrial enterprises seeking sustainable and cost-effective ingredient sourcing.

Darling Ingredients operates as a diversified specialty ingredients manufacturer with a $10.5 billion market capitalization and TTM revenues of $6.5 billion, positioning it as a significant player in the value-added ingredients space. The company leverages its vertically integrated operations and sustainable sourcing capabilities to capture margin opportunities across multiple end-use applications. With 15,000 employees globally, Darling Ingredients maintains competitive advantages through its proprietary processing technologies, established customer relationships, and its ability to convert organic waste streams into high-value ingredients.

What this transaction means for investors

Darling Ingredients is posting impressive numbers thus far in 2026. In the first six months of the year, it reported $3.2 billion in net sales, a 14.4% increase from the prior-year period. It is also massively boosting its net income, reporting $521.6 million for the first six months of 2026, an increase of 3,963%. As the company's revenue and net income have increased, so has its stock price.

As of this writing, the Darling Ingredients stock price has skyrocketed 113.6% over the past 12 months. That easily is outperforming the S&P 500's return of 16.2% over the same period. With that kind of strong stock price run-up, it wouldn't be uncommon to imagine an insider may want to take some gains off the table. With this transaction, that appears to be what's happening. While Stuewe sold 5,000 shares, he still holds 1.1 million shares. That shows significant alignment with the company's current and future success. Given the context of the rising stock price and only 5,000 shares being sold, this appears to largely be a routine transaction.

Jack Delaney has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Darling Ingredients and recommends the following options: short October 2026 $60 calls on Darling Ingredients. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.