Oppenheimer Boosts Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Price Target to $138.00

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) had its price objective boosted by Oppenheimer from $126.00 to $138.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ingredion from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ingredion has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $135.33.

Ingredion Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE:INGR traded up $3.41 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $130.17. The stock had a trading volume of 462,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,101. Ingredion has a 52 week low of $89.54 and a 52 week high of $130.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $117.43 and its 200 day moving average is $115.65. The stock has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04, a P/E/G 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.34. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.45% and a return on equity of 16.56%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ingredion will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Ingredion’s payout ratio is 31.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ingredion

In other news, SVP Robert A. Ritchie sold 1,195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $149,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,988,250. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Robert A. Ritchie sold 1,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $149,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,906 shares in the company, valued at $1,988,250. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 27,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 52,197 shares in the company, valued at $6,073,642.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 37,185 shares of company stock valued at $4,382,848. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingredion

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of INGR. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in Ingredion during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Ingredion in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ingredion by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ingredion in the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ingredion in the second quarter valued at $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.