Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Trading Down 4.6% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) were down 4.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $125.22 and last traded at $128.56. Approximately 120,663 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 495,415 shares. The stock had previously closed at $134.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

INGR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stephens raised Ingredion to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ingredion from $128.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.17.

Ingredion Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market cap of $8.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.74.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.09. Ingredion had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 17.75%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 10.59 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $1,877,794.20. This represents a 81.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 6,122 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 29,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,083,922.44. The trade was a 17.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 65,692 shares of company stock valued at $9,634,868. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of INGR. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in Ingredion by 195.2% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 7,676 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Ingredion by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,436,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,862,000 after acquiring an additional 19,560 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Ingredion by 75.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 194,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,109,000 after buying an additional 83,708 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Ingredion by 1.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 725,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,683,000 after buying an additional 10,812 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Ingredion by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 305,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,030,000 after acquiring an additional 35,657 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.