Analysts Set Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Target Price at $126.67

Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $126.67.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on INGR. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ingredion from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $122.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Ingredion in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Ingredion from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Ingredion from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th.

Insider Transactions at Ingredion

In related news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.08, for a total value of $272,624.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,333,407.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.08, for a total value of $272,624.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,333,407.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 54,581 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.24, for a total value of $6,399,076.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 99,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,635,601.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 58,921 shares of company stock valued at $6,903,037. 1.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingredion

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Ingredion by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ingredion by 1.2% during the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $911,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ingredion by 29.1% during the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 493 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Pflug Koory LLC raised its holdings in Ingredion by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 12,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,324,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Ingredion by 33.7% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 484 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ingredion Price Performance

INGR stock opened at $118.09 on Friday. Ingredion has a 52-week low of $89.54 and a 52-week high of $118.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.81.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.57% and a net margin of 7.88%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Ingredion will post 9.62 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. Ingredion’s payout ratio is 32.50%.

About Ingredion

Ingredion Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells sweeteners, starches, nutrition ingredients, and biomaterial solutions derived from wet milling and processing corn, and other starch-based materials to a range of industries in North America, South America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.