Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Price Target Raised to $168.00

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) had its price objective raised by Barclays from $145.00 to $168.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ingredion from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ingredion from $141.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.00.

Ingredion Stock Performance

INGR opened at $151.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $136.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Ingredion has a 12-month low of $100.53 and a 12-month high of $155.44.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by $0.47. Ingredion had a return on equity of 17.75% and a net margin of 9.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ingredion will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. This is a positive change from Ingredion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Ingredion’s payout ratio is 31.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.03, for a total transaction of $174,239.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,040,595.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ingredion news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 4,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.41, for a total transaction of $721,027.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 29,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,454,105.94. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 1,300 shares of the company’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 directly owns 52,530 shares in the company, valued at $7,040,595.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,056 shares of company stock worth $4,121,736 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingredion

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Ingredion by 102.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. 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.