Strs Ohio Invests $2.37 Million in Ingredion Incorporated $INGR

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired 17,553 shares of Ingredion Incorporated for approximately $2.37 million, joining several institutional investors who have significantly increased their positions in the stock during the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have upgraded Ingredion's stock with a buy rating from Wall Street Zen and a price target increase from $149 to $151 by UBS Group, reflecting positive sentiment toward the company's future performance.
• Ingredion announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.80 to $0.82 per share, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders, along with an annualized yield of 2.7%.

Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 17,553 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,373,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in INGR. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Ingredion by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,895 shares of the company's stock worth $1,636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Ingredion by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 26,575 shares of the company's stock worth $3,656,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Ingredion by 127.1% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 14,794 shares of the company's stock worth $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 8,280 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the fourth quarter worth about $474,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ingredion by 502.7% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,254 shares of the company's stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,880 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on INGR shares. Wall Street Zen raised Ingredion from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on Ingredion from $149.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ingredion currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $151.40.

Ingredion Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE INGR traded down $1.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $122.36. 1,308,235 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 455,601. The company's 50 day moving average price is $128.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $132.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion, a PE ratio of 11.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.77. Ingredion Incorporated has a 12 month low of $120.51 and a 12 month high of $155.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.78 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 9.24%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.87 EPS. Ingredion has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.100-11.600 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This is a boost from Ingredion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ingredion

In other Ingredion news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 36,287 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.52, for a total value of $4,591,031.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 50,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,342,321.08. The trade was a 41.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 850 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.39, for a total value of $109,131.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 sold a total of 37,137 shares of company stock valued at $4,700,163 over the last 90 days. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ingredion 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.