Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 83,708 Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Free Report) by 75.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 194,295 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 83,708 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.30% of Ingredion worth $26,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 92.4% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,764,012 shares of the company's stock worth $202,332,000 after purchasing an additional 846,967 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Ingredion by 177.8% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 396,743 shares of the company's stock worth $45,491,000 after buying an additional 253,949 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 55,219.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 174,811 shares of the company's stock worth $240,240,000 after buying an additional 174,495 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Ingredion by 4.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,685,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $308,009,000 after acquiring an additional 125,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $17,094,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised 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. UBS Group raised their target price on Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $128.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Ingredion to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $155.17.

Ingredion Stock Performance

Shares of INGR stock traded down $0.59 during trading on Friday, reaching $138.19. 1,462,588 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 400,663. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.74. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $142.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.11. Ingredion Incorporated has a twelve month low of $106.03 and a twelve month high of $155.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Ingredion had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 17.75%. Ingredion's revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ingredion Incorporated will post 10.59 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

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 $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.22%.

Insider Transactions at Ingredion

In related news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 6,122 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total value of $861,120.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,083,922.44. This trade represents a 17.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of Ingredion 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,877,794.20. This represents a 81.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,198 shares of company stock valued at $9,702,461. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.