Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Invests $859,000 in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $859,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Ingredion by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 337,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,398,000 after purchasing an additional 31,465 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Ingredion by 653.3% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 226 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp increased its position in shares of Ingredion by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 9,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Ingredion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,600,000. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 4th quarter worth approximately $279,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Stock Performance

Shares of INGR opened at $134.86 on Friday. Ingredion Incorporated has a 1 year low of $109.51 and a 1 year high of $155.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.89, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.75.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.09. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 8.71%. The business had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $1,361,392.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 34,127 shares in the company, valued at $4,295,906.76. This represents a 24.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

INGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens cut their target price on Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.20.

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.