AQR Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 316,344 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 13,848 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.49% of Ingredion worth $43,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Ingredion by 75.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 194,295 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,109,000 after buying an additional 83,708 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Ingredion by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 583,081 shares of the company's stock worth $80,209,000 after purchasing an additional 10,703 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ingredion by 1.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 725,374 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,683,000 after purchasing an additional 10,812 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its holdings in Ingredion by 606.2% in the 4th quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 38,023 shares of the company's stock worth $5,230,000 after acquiring an additional 32,639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fractal Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ingredion during the 4th quarter valued at $344,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Ingredion Stock Up 3.4 %

NYSE INGR traded up $4.57 on Tuesday, reaching $138.20. 833,802 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 469,019. Ingredion Incorporated has a 12 month low of $111.54 and a 12 month high of $155.44. The company has a market cap of $8.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.23, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $131.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.48. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 18.62%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. Ingredion's payout ratio is 32.96%.

Insider Activity at Ingredion

In other news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $1,361,392.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,295,906.76. This trade represents a 24.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $167.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target 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. StockNews.com downgraded Ingredion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group set a $155.00 target price on Ingredion in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Stephens decreased their price target on Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $152.20.

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.