James Investment Research Inc. Purchases 3,364 Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

James Investment Research Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Free Report) by 105.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,569 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,364 shares during the period. James Investment Research Inc.'s holdings in Ingredion were worth $904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its stake in Ingredion by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 4,162 shares of the company's stock valued at $572,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Ingredion by 5.7% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,570 shares of the company's stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Ingredion by 0.5% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,905 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Ingredion by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,383 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Ingredion by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ingredion news, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of the firm'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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,877,794.20. This trade 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 is accessible through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Stephens reduced their price objective 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ingredion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $158.20.

Ingredion Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Ingredion stock traded up $0.90 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $126.50. 386,791 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 533,356. 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $135.29 and its 200 day moving average is $136.50. The firm has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.74. Ingredion Incorporated has a 1 year low of $109.51 and a 1 year high of $155.44.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. Ingredion's quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ingredion Incorporated 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, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.96%.

Ingredion 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.