Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $155.17.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 371 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.58, for a total value of $49,558.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,967,399.22. This represents a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 4,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.41, for a total transaction of $721,027.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,454,105.94. The trade was a 13.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,198 shares of company stock worth $9,702,461 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Ingredion in the third quarter worth $41,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ingredion in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion during the second quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in shares of Ingredion by 82.6% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 493 shares of the company's stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ingredion Stock Performance

NYSE INGR traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $138.70. 420,352 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 400,927. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $9.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.74. Ingredion has a 12-month low of $106.03 and a 12-month high of $155.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $142.37 and a 200 day moving average of $131.64.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. Ingredion's quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ingredion will post 10.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.22%.

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.