Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ingredion from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ingredion from $118.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Ingredion from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Ingredion from $108.00 to $104.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.00.

Ingredion Price Performance

Ingredion stock opened at $92.00 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $97.19 and its 200 day moving average is $105.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.63. Ingredion has a one year low of $90.14 and a one year high of $123.49.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by ($0.31). Ingredion had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 14.36%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.75 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Ingredion will post 9.49 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingredion

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. South Dakota Investment Council boosted its stake in Ingredion by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 41,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,937,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ingredion by 1.1% in the third quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Ingredion in the third quarter worth approximately $2,287,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ingredion by 66.1% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 284 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 16.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Company Profile

Ingredion Incorporated is a global ingredient solutions company that transforms corn, tapioca, potato and other plant-based materials into ingredients used by manufacturers. Its products include starches, sweeteners, glucose syrups, dextrose, maltodextrins, plant proteins and texturizers. The company’s ingredients are used in food and beverages, as well as in applications such as animal nutrition, brewing, pharmaceuticals, paper and packaging. Ingredion works with customers to develop ingredients and formulations that support product texture, taste, nutrition and performance.