Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Hits New 52-Week High at $137.21

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $137.21 and last traded at $136.63, with a volume of 11399 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $135.74.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upgraded Ingredion from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $122.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ingredion from $141.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ingredion from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Ingredion from $126.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.33.

Ingredion Stock Down 0.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $125.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.12.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 17.18% and a net margin of 8.47%. The company’s revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ingredion Incorporated will post 9.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. This is a boost from Ingredion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ingredion

In other Ingredion news, SVP Robert A. Ritchie sold 1,195 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $149,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,988,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 22,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.14, for a total value of $3,024,857.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,530 shares in the company, valued at $7,046,374.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert A. Ritchie sold 1,195 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $149,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,988,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,045 shares of company stock valued at $3,482,491 over the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Ingredion by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ingredion by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 659,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,579,000 after buying an additional 8,159 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Ingredion by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after buying an additional 2,622 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Ingredion by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,382,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new stake in Ingredion in the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.