Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Given New $150.00 Price Target at Stephens

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) had its price objective reduced by Stephens from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. 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 note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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 company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $154.33.

Ingredion Stock Performance

Shares of INGR stock opened at $126.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.67. Ingredion has a 52 week low of $107.40 and a 52 week high of $155.44. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $138.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.03. The company has a market capitalization of $8.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.74.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued 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 business had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Ingredion had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 17.75%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ingredion will post 10.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Ingredion’s payout ratio is 31.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ingredion news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 6,122 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total transaction of $861,120.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 29,034 shares in the company, valued at $4,083,922.44. This represents a 17.41 % decrease in their position. 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 that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,877,794.20. The trade was a 81.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 60,992 shares of company stock valued at $8,913,841. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ingredion

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Ingredion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion during the third quarter worth $41,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 431.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in Ingredion by 82.6% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 493 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.