Brown Advisory Inc. Raises Stock Position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,318 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in INGR. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ingredion during the fourth quarter worth about $3,633,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ingredion by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 15,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ingredion by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 42,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,903,000 after buying an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ingredion by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,696,000 after purchasing an additional 4,984 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE INGR opened at $134.39 on Wednesday. Ingredion Incorporated has a twelve month low of $114.03 and a twelve month high of $155.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.85, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $8.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.18, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $137.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $133.74.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.53. Ingredion had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 8.53%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio is 33.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

INGR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ingredion from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 8th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Ingredion from $167.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ingredion from $149.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $151.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ingredion news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,400 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.82, for a total transaction of $325,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,345,696.72. This trade represents a 6.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.