Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,360,000 shares, an increase of 9.7% from the January 15th total of 1,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 534,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company's shares are sold short.

Ingredion Stock Performance

Shares of INGR traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $126.21. 569,643 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 548,862. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $134.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.69. Ingredion has a twelve month low of $109.51 and a twelve month high of $155.44.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Ingredion will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.96%.

Insider Transactions at Ingredion

In other news, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 12,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,877,794.20. This represents a 81.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $1,361,392.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,127 shares in the company, valued at $4,295,906.76. This trade represents a 24.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,685 shares of company stock worth $9,414,112 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ingredion

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the fourth quarter valued at $96,012,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ingredion by 38,341.7% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 509,352 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,067,000 after acquiring an additional 508,027 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Ingredion in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,642,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in Ingredion by 327.2% during the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 531,413 shares of the company's stock worth $73,101,000 after purchasing an additional 407,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ingredion by 93.2% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 652,734 shares of the company's stock worth $89,790,000 after buying an additional 314,912 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

INGR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lifted 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. StockNews.com downgraded Ingredion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ingredion presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $158.20.

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.