Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Shares Sold by Cooke & Bieler LP

Cooke & Bieler LP reduced its stake in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 20.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 791,384 shares of the company’s stock after selling 207,329 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $108,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Ingredion by 431.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $1,361,392.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 34,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,295,906.76. This represents a 24.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.20.

Ingredion Stock Up 0.8 %

INGR stock opened at $136.52 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $132.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.64. The company has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.75. Ingredion Incorporated has a 12-month low of $109.51 and a 12-month high of $155.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.09. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 8.71%. The business had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. Ingredion’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Ingredion’s payout ratio is 32.96%.

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.