Ingredion Incorporated Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.80 (NYSE:INGR)

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 22nd, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.80 per share on Tuesday, July 22nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st.

Ingredion has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Ingredion has a dividend payout ratio of 27.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Ingredion to earn $11.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.1%.

Ingredion Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE INGR traded up $1.88 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $138.57. 106,862 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 470,069. The company has a 50 day moving average of $133.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.43. 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 has a 52-week low of $111.54 and a 52-week high of $155.44. The firm has a market cap of $8.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.73.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.84 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 8.71%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ingredion will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on INGR shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Ingredion from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group set a $155.00 price objective on Ingredion in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Ingredion from $167.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $152.20.

Insider Activity at Ingredion

In other Ingredion news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.82, for a total transaction of $325,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ingredion

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in INGR. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in Ingredion by 32.8% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the company's stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Ingredion by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,636 shares of the company's stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Ingredion by 63.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,694 shares of the company's stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ingredion by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,687 shares of the company's stock worth $1,310,000 after buying an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ingredion by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 101,414 shares of the company's stock worth $13,712,000 after buying an additional 5,255 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.