Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Lowered to "Buy" Rating by StockNews.com

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Thursday.

INGR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $154.33.

Ingredion Trading Down 0.2 %

Ingredion stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $127.66. The stock had a trading volume of 623,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 537,483. The stock has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $137.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.28. Ingredion has a one year low of $107.77 and a one year high of $155.44.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Ingredion will post 11.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Ingredion news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 6,122 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total value of $861,120.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 29,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,083,922.44. This represents a 17.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $8,052,574.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,795 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders sold 60,992 shares of company stock worth $8,913,841 in the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ingredion

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of INGR. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ingredion in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ingredion in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ingredion in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ingredion by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Ingredion during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company's stock.

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.