Polaris Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Polaris Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Free Report) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 292,400 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,300 shares during the period. Ingredion makes up 1.9% of Polaris Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Polaris Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.45% of Ingredion worth $40,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of INGR. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Ingredion by 195.2% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 11,608 shares of the company's stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 7,676 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Ingredion by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,436,601 shares of the company's stock worth $334,862,000 after buying an additional 19,560 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ingredion by 75.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 194,295 shares of the company's stock worth $26,109,000 after buying an additional 83,708 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ingredion by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 725,374 shares of the company's stock worth $99,683,000 after buying an additional 10,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fractal Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 4th quarter worth $344,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ingredion Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:INGR traded down $1.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $126.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 276,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 529,087. Ingredion Incorporated has a 52 week low of $109.51 and a 52 week high of $155.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The company has a market capitalization of $8.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.74. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $136.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.33.

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

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

INGR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Ingredion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $154.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.76, for a total transaction 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 $1,877,794.20. The trade was a 81.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.