Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Price Target Cut to $150.00 by Analysts at Stephens

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

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Barclays increased their price objective 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.33.

Ingredion Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:INGR opened at $126.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.74. Ingredion has a 12-month low of $107.40 and a 12-month high of $155.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.09. Ingredion had a return on equity of 17.75% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ingredion will post 10.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,083,922.44. This trade represents a 17.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,795 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Ingredion by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,436,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,862,000 after purchasing an additional 19,560 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ingredion by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,890,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,056,000 after buying an additional 268,389 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Ingredion by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,539,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,529,000 after buying an additional 36,421 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ingredion by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,167,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,516,000 after buying an additional 19,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in Ingredion by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 842,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,930,000 after acquiring an additional 89,335 shares during the period. 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.