Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $126.67.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Ingredion in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Ingredion from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $122.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on Ingredion from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ingredion from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd.

Ingredion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE INGR opened at $111.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.92. The company has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.04. Ingredion has a fifty-two week low of $89.54 and a fifty-two week high of $118.83.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.57% and a net margin of 7.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ingredion will post 9.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. Ingredion’s payout ratio is currently 32.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.08, for a total value of $272,624.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,333,407.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Davida Marie Gable sold 1,968 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.38, for a total transaction of $231,003.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,245.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,369 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.08, for a total value of $272,624.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,333,407.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 58,921 shares of company stock valued at $6,903,045 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ingredion

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Ingredion during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Ingredion by 63.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Ingredion by 414.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Ingredion by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 359 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.