Barclays Upgrades Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) to Overweight

Barclays upgraded shares of Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Barclays currently has $145.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $122.00.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on INGR. StockNews.com lowered Ingredion from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ingredion from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Ingredion from $126.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $135.33.

Ingredion Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE INGR opened at $128.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.44. Ingredion has a 52 week low of $89.54 and a 52 week high of $130.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $117.43 and its 200 day moving average is $115.76.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.34. Ingredion had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 8.45%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. Ingredion’s revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ingredion will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. Ingredion’s payout ratio is 31.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 27,500 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.36, for a total transaction of $3,199,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,073,642.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 27,500 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.36, for a total transaction of $3,199,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,073,642.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert A. Ritchie sold 1,195 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $149,375.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,988,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,695 shares of company stock valued at $3,349,275. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingredion

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in INGR. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ingredion by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 4,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ingredion by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 35,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,899,000 after acquiring an additional 4,533 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ingredion in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,700,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ingredion by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 44,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,872,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Ingredion by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 139,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by 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.