UBS Group Reiterates Neutral Rating for Ingredion (NYSE:INGR)

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at UBS Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $145.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 15.29% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $152.60.

Ingredion Price Performance

NYSE INGR traded down $5.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $125.77. The stock had a trading volume of 48,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 451,782. Ingredion has a 52-week low of $109.51 and a 52-week high of $155.44. The company has a market cap of $8.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued 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 net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 18.62%. 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 company earned $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Ingredion will post 11.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ingredion

In other news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,127 shares in the company, valued at $4,295,906.76. This represents a 24.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ingredion

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in INGR. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Ingredion by 293.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ingredion in the first quarter worth $1,123,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Ingredion during the 4th quarter worth $10,181,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ingredion by 346.3% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 7,448 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% 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.