Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $152.37 and last traded at $150.55, with a volume of 150647 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $134.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

INGR has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $141.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ingredion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Ingredion from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $122.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $138.83.

Ingredion Stock Up 15.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $10.07 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.73. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $134.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.46.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.34. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 17.18%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ingredion Incorporated will post 10.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. This is an increase from Ingredion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Ingredion's payout ratio is presently 32.72%.

Insider Transactions at Ingredion

In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 1,300 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.03, for a total value of $174,239.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,530 shares in the company, valued at $7,040,595.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Ingredion news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 1,300 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.03, for a total transaction of $174,239.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,040,595.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 22,550 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.14, for a total transaction of $3,024,857.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,046,374.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,356 shares of company stock valued at $3,400,709 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ingredion

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of INGR. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ingredion by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.