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 research note published on Wednesday morning.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ingredion from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $135.33.

Ingredion Price Performance

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

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. Ingredion’s revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ingredion will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Ingredion news, SVP Robert A. Ritchie sold 1,195 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $149,375.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,988,250. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ingredion news, 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 transaction of $149,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,988,250. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 27,500 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,073,642.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,185 shares of company stock worth $4,382,848 over the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ingredion

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of INGR. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Ingredion in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ingredion by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

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.