Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Lifted to Overweight at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Barclays currently has $145.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $122.00.

INGR has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ingredion from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Ingredion from $126.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ingredion from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ingredion currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $135.33.

Ingredion Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Ingredion stock opened at $128.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.76. Ingredion has a 1-year low of $89.54 and a 1-year high of $130.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 8.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ingredion will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st were issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Robert A. Ritchie sold 1,195 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $149,375.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,906 shares in the company, valued at $1,988,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Robert A. Ritchie sold 1,195 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $149,375.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,906 shares in the company, valued at $1,988,250. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 27,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.36, for a total transaction of $3,199,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,073,642.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,695 shares of company stock worth $3,349,275 over the last ninety days. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingredion

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ingredion by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ingredion during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.