Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Raises Holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Free Report) by 405.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,258 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,019 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Ingredion were worth $861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ingredion by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,285,705 shares of the company's stock worth $1,002,222,000 after buying an additional 84,863 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Ingredion by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,890,488 shares of the company's stock worth $260,056,000 after acquiring an additional 268,389 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ingredion by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,182,434 shares of the company's stock valued at $162,703,000 after purchasing an additional 14,741 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ingredion by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 870,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,721,000 after purchasing an additional 46,819 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Ingredion by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 842,763 shares of the company's stock worth $115,930,000 after purchasing an additional 89,335 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on INGR shares. StockNews.com cut Ingredion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Ingredion from $167.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stephens decreased their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Ingredion in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ingredion presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $152.20.

Ingredion Trading Up 0.9 %

INGR stock traded up $1.18 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $132.24. 501,126 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 462,848. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $130.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.62. Ingredion Incorporated has a 1 year low of $111.54 and a 1 year high of $155.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.72.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.09. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 8.71%. The firm had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.96%.

Insider Transactions at Ingredion

In other news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $1,361,392.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 34,127 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,295,906.76. This trade represents a 24.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% 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.