Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires 7,448 Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Free Report) by 346.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,599 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,448 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Ingredion were worth $1,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of INGR. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 4,162 shares of the company's stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Mindset Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Mindset Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,914 shares of the company's stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,303 shares of the company's stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,318 shares of the company's stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.82, for a total transaction of $325,968.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,996 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,345,696.72. This trade represents a 6.98% 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. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on INGR. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Ingredion from $167.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Ingredion in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ingredion from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Stephens decreased their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $152.20.

Ingredion Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE INGR traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $139.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 420,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 472,259. 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 $8.94 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $133.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.40.

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

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.76%.

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.