Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) is Leeward Investments LLC MA’s 9th Largest Position

Leeward Investments LLC MA trimmed its holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 214,924 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,528 shares during the period. Ingredion makes up about 1.5% of Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $29,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in INGR. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Ingredion by 195.2% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 7,676 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Ingredion by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,436,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,862,000 after purchasing an additional 19,560 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 83,708 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ingredion by 1.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 725,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,683,000 after purchasing an additional 10,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fractal Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ingredion during the fourth quarter worth $344,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ingredion Stock Up 1.4 %

Ingredion stock opened at $128.07 on Friday. Ingredion Incorporated has a 1-year low of $109.51 and a 1-year high of $155.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market cap of $8.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $133.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.50.

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

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Ingredion’s payout ratio is 32.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.76, for a total value of $8,052,574.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,795 shares in the company, valued at $1,877,794.20. This trade represents a 81.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,295,906.76. The trade was a 24.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 65,685 shares of company stock valued at $9,414,112. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ingredion Company Profile

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.