Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ingredion from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ingredion has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $135.33.

Ingredion Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE:INGR traded up $3.41 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $130.17. 462,282 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 394,101. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Ingredion has a 12-month low of $89.54 and a 12-month high of $130.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.72.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.34. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.45% and a return on equity of 16.56%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ingredion will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st were paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO James D. Gray sold 8,490 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.74, for a total transaction of $1,033,572.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 42,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,214,489.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ingredion news, CFO James D. Gray sold 8,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.74, for a total transaction of $1,033,572.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,214,489.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert A. Ritchie sold 1,195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $149,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,988,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,185 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,848. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingredion

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Loews Corp grew its position in shares of Ingredion by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Loews Corp now owns 200,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,706,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Paradiem LLC boosted its stake in Ingredion by 64.2% during the 4th quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 73,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,943,000 after purchasing an additional 28,617 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 230.9% during the first quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 13,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,604,000 after buying an additional 9,577 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Ingredion by 154.0% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 77,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,101,000 after buying an additional 47,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Ingredion by 23.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,305,000 after acquiring an additional 21,619 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ingredion Company Profile

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.