Metis Global Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,989 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in INGR. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 195.2% in 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 0.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 75.7% in 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 1.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Fractal Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion in the fourth quarter worth about $344,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ingredion Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE INGR opened at $129.22 on Thursday. Ingredion Incorporated has a 1-year low of $109.51 and a 1-year high of $155.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $132.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.69.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on INGR. StockNews.com cut Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. 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. 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. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ingredion presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ingredion

In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value 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 approximately $4,295,906.76. The trade was a 24.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.