Acadian Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Ingredion Incorporated $INGR

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC sold 166,067 shares of Ingredion, reducing its holdings by 27.5%, now owning 438,876 shares valued at approximately $59 million.
• CEO James P. Zallie sold 36,287 shares for over $4.5 million, decreasing his ownership by nearly 42%, while other executives also sold shares during the same period.
• Ingredion announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.80 to $0.82 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.6%, reflecting a positive change for investors.

Acadian Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Free Report) by 27.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 438,876 shares of the company's stock after selling 166,067 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned about 0.68% of Ingredion worth $59,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of INGR. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ingredion by 59.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the company's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Ingredion by 31.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,893 shares of the company's stock worth $3,095,000 after buying an additional 5,413 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in Ingredion by 5.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,636 shares of the company's stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Ingredion by 22.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 353,165 shares of the company's stock worth $47,751,000 after buying an additional 63,767 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on INGR shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Ingredion from $149.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ingredion from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $151.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 36,287 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.52, for a total transaction of $4,591,031.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 50,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,342,321.08. This trade represents a 41.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.39, for a total transaction of $109,131.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 31,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,002,044.69. This represents a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,137 shares of company stock worth $4,700,163 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Ingredion Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of INGR traded up $1.53 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $125.20. The stock had a trading volume of 182,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 515,409. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 1.81. Ingredion Incorporated has a 1-year low of $120.51 and a 1-year high of $155.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $132.71.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.09. Ingredion had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 9.24%.The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.87 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Ingredion has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.100-11.600 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This is a boost from Ingredion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Ingredion's payout ratio is presently 31.22%.

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.