Ethic Inc. Raises Holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Free Report) by 32.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 15,101 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,720 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Ingredion were worth $2,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in INGR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,012,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 38,341.7% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 509,352 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,067,000 after acquiring an additional 508,027 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,642,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 327.2% during the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 531,413 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,101,000 after acquiring an additional 407,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 93.2% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 652,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,790,000 after acquiring an additional 314,912 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on INGR. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group set a $155.00 price objective on Ingredion in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Ingredion from $167.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stephens decreased their price target on Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ingredion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $152.20.

Ingredion Stock Up 1.5%

Ingredion stock traded up $2.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $140.91. 481,389 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 469,632. The business's 50 day moving average is $132.21 and its 200 day moving average is $135.71. Ingredion Incorporated has a 52 week low of $111.54 and a 52 week high of $155.44. The company has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.53. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 8.71%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. Ingredion's revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ingredion

In other Ingredion 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 value of $1,361,392.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 34,127 shares in the company, valued at $4,295,906.76. This represents a 24.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.82, for a total value of $325,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,996 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,345,696.72. This trade represents a 6.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,215 shares of company stock worth $1,687,360 in the last quarter. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.