Short Interest in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Declines By 16.9%

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,720,000 shares, a drop of 16.9% from the March 15th total of 2,070,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 637,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $1,361,392.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 34,127 shares in the company, valued at $4,295,906.76. This trade represents a 24.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Ingredion by 31.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 47,291 shares of the company's stock worth $6,499,000 after buying an additional 11,432 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management raised its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 4,033 shares of the company's stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the 3rd quarter worth $149,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Ingredion by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,905 shares of the company's stock worth $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ingredion by 75.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 194,295 shares of the company's stock worth $26,109,000 after purchasing an additional 83,708 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ingredion Trading Down 0.5 %

INGR traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $129.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 40,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 458,880. The stock has a market cap of $8.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.72. Ingredion has a fifty-two week low of $111.54 and a fifty-two 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 business's 50-day moving average is $130.63 and its 200-day moving average is $135.66.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 8.71%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ingredion will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. Ingredion's payout ratio is currently 32.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ingredion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group set a $155.00 price target on Ingredion in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Ingredion from $167.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ingredion currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $152.20.

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.