Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Raises Stock Position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,738 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $2,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ingredion in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ingredion in the third quarter valued at $41,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Ingredion by 431.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ingredion in the 3rd quarter worth $86,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $1,361,392.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,295,906.76. This represents a 24.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ingredion Price Performance

Shares of INGR opened at $130.55 on Friday. Ingredion Incorporated has a 52 week low of $109.51 and a 52 week high of $155.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $132.87 and a 200-day moving average of $136.54.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 18.62%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

INGR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.20.

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.