Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Short Interest Up 33.8% in February

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,820,000 shares, a growth of 33.8% from the January 31st total of 1,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 533,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.9% of the company's stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ingredion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $158.20.

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Ingredion Stock Performance

Shares of INGR traded up $4.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $135.54. The company had a trading volume of 913,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 593,819. The business has a fifty day moving average of $132.08 and a 200-day moving average of $136.54. Ingredion has a 12 month low of $109.51 and a 12 month high of $155.44. 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 firm has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.74.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 8.71%. Ingredion's revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Ingredion will post 11.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued 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 dividend yield of 2.36%. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,127 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,295,906.76. This represents a 24.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingredion

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Ingredion during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Ingredion during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ingredion by 653.3% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 226 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ingredion in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ingredion in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.