StockNews.com Lowers Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) to Buy

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

Separately, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ingredion from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ingredion currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $127.17.

Ingredion Stock Performance

NYSE INGR opened at $115.01 on Thursday. Ingredion has a 52-week low of $89.54 and a 52-week high of $122.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.44. The company has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.72.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.45% and a return on equity of 16.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ingredion will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.26%.

Insider Activity at Ingredion

In other Ingredion news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 27,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.36, for a total value of $3,199,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 52,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,073,642.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Ingredion news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 27,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.36, for a total value of $3,199,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 52,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,073,642.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.11, for a total transaction of $282,171.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,436,085.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,359 shares of company stock valued at $4,515,644. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ingredion

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 359 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 59.8% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.