Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Hits New 52-Week High on Earnings Beat

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $152.37 and last traded at $150.55, with a volume of 150647 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $134.04.

The company reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by $0.47. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 17.18%. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Ingredion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This is a positive change from Ingredion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Ingredion’s payout ratio is presently 32.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

INGR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $128.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Ingredion from $141.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ingredion news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.03, for a total value of $174,239.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,530 shares in the company, valued at $7,040,595.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.03, for a total value of $174,239.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 52,530 shares in the company, valued at $7,040,595.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 371 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.58, for a total transaction of $49,558.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 52,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,967,399.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,356 shares of company stock worth $3,400,709 in the last three months. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ingredion

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in INGR. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ingredion by 92.4% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,764,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,332,000 after purchasing an additional 846,967 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Ingredion by 177.8% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 396,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,491,000 after acquiring an additional 253,949 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Ingredion by 55,219.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 174,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,240,000 after acquiring an additional 174,495 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Ingredion by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,685,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,009,000 after acquiring an additional 125,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of Ingredion by 43.8% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 405,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,303,000 after purchasing an additional 123,406 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ingredion Trading Down 2.8 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $135.54 and a 200 day moving average of $124.93. The company has a market cap of $9.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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.