Stephens Cuts Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Price Target to $150.00

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) had its target price reduced by Stephens from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $154.33.

Ingredion Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Ingredion stock opened at $127.83 on Wednesday. Ingredion has a one year low of $107.77 and a one year high of $155.44. The company has a market cap of $8.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $138.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.97.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.09. Ingredion had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 17.75%. The firm had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ingredion will post 10.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.76, for a total value of $8,052,574.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,877,794.20. This represents a 81.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 6,122 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total value of $861,120.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,083,922.44. The trade was a 17.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,992 shares of company stock worth $8,913,841 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ingredion by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 15,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 4th quarter valued at $20,454,000. Moran Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the 4th quarter valued at $208,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,269,000 after buying an additional 3,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Taika Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 4th quarter worth $729,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

About Ingredion

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.