Cerity Partners LLC Cuts Position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 49.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,489 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,452 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $1,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ingredion by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,285,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,002,222,000 after purchasing an additional 84,863 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ingredion by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,182,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,703,000 after acquiring an additional 14,741 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Ingredion by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 870,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,721,000 after acquiring an additional 46,819 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Ingredion by 6.7% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 727,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,347,000 after acquiring an additional 45,631 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Ingredion by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 717,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,703,000 after acquiring an additional 132,151 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Ingredion stock opened at $133.10 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $137.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 2.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Ingredion Incorporated has a 52-week low of $117.49 and a 52-week high of $155.44. The company has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.72.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.53% and a return on equity of 19.75%. Ingredion’s revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. Ingredion’s payout ratio is currently 33.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on INGR shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ingredion from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 8th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Ingredion from $167.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ingredion from $149.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $151.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.82, for a total value of $325,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ingredion 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.