Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $155.17.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on INGR. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Stephens raised shares of Ingredion to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays increased their price target on Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ingredion from $128.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Ingredion Price Performance

NYSE:INGR traded up $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $135.16. 460,441 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 493,967. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $141.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.10. Ingredion has a 52-week low of $107.20 and a 52-week high of $155.44. The company has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ingredion will post 10.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ingredion news, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,795 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,877,794.20. This represents a 81.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 6,122 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total transaction of $861,120.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,083,922.44. This trade represents a 17.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 65,692 shares of company stock worth $9,634,868. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ingredion

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ingredion during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Ingredion by 431.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 446 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position in Ingredion by 82.6% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 493 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. 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.