Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Hits New 1-Year Low - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Ingredion shares have reached a new 52-week low of $120.48, prompting discussions among investors about whether to sell.
• Despite the stock's decline, UBS Group upgraded their target price for Ingredion from $149 to $151 and rated it as "neutral," while Wall Street Zen upgraded it from "hold" to "buy."
• Ingredion has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.82 per share, representing a yield of 2.7% with a payout ratio of 32%.

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $120.48 and last traded at $120.86, with a volume of 287591 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $122.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on INGR shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Ingredion from $149.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock 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, September 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $151.40.

Ingredion Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $127.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $132.31.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.87 earnings per share. Ingredion has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.100-11.600 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is an increase from Ingredion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $4,002,044.69. This represents a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 36,287 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 50,129 shares in the company, valued at $6,342,321.08. This represents a 41.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,137 shares of company stock worth $4,700,163 in the last three months. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ingredion

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of INGR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ingredion in the 2nd quarter valued at $82,779,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 42.9% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,204,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $162,840,000 after purchasing an additional 361,584 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 1,093.5% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 365,693 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,445,000 after purchasing an additional 335,052 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 722,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,531,000 after purchasing an additional 288,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 37.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 982,789 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,883,000 after acquiring an additional 265,263 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company's stock.

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.

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