ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 366,935 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,160 shares during the quarter. Ingredion comprises about 2.1% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $50,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of INGR. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ingredion in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ingredion during the 2nd quarter valued at $56,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Ingredion by 431.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in shares of Ingredion by 82.6% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 493 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ingredion Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE INGR opened at $135.16 on Tuesday. Ingredion Incorporated has a 12-month low of $107.20 and a 12-month high of $155.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $141.07 and a 200 day moving average of $134.56.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Ingredion had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 17.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ingredion Incorporated will post 10.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Ingredion’s payout ratio is 31.22%.

Insider Transactions at Ingredion

In other news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 6,122 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total value of $861,120.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,083,922.44. This represents a 17.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.76, for a total transaction of $8,052,574.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,877,794.20. This trade represents a 81.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 65,692 shares of company stock valued at $9,634,868 over the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on INGR shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ingredion from $128.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stephens upgraded shares of Ingredion to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.17.

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.