Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Hits New 1-Year High at $122.59

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $122.59 and last traded at $122.59, with a volume of 9323 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $121.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on INGR. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ingredion from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.17.

Ingredion Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $116.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.93. The company has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.44.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.08. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.45% and a return on equity of 16.56%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ingredion Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. Ingredion’s payout ratio is 31.26%.

Insider Activity at Ingredion

In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 27,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.36, for a total transaction of $3,199,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,073,642.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Robert A. Ritchie sold 1,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $149,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,988,250. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 27,500 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.36, for a total value of $3,199,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,073,642.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,554 shares of company stock worth $4,665,019. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ingredion

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new position in Ingredion during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ingredion in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ingredion by 102.6% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Ingredion during the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ingredion during the second quarter worth $36,000. 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.