Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $31.75 Million in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 230,820 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,752,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of Ingredion at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Ingredion by 653.3% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 226 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ingredion by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ingredion

In other news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $1,361,392.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,127 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,295,906.76. This represents a 24.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ingredion Price Performance

INGR stock traded up $1.48 on Friday, reaching $129.59. 427,913 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 460,011. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $130.50 and a 200-day moving average of $135.77. Ingredion Incorporated has a twelve month low of $111.54 and a twelve month high of $155.44. The firm has a market cap of $8.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.72.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 8.71%. The business's revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

INGR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $145.00 price target (down from $165.00) on shares of Ingredion in a research note on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Ingredion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $152.60.

Ingredion 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.