Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Buy"

Key Points

• Ingredion was downgraded from a "strong-buy" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting changing analyst sentiments on the stock.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a slight year-over-year decline in revenue, coming in at $1.83 billion versus the $1.89 billion expected by analysts.
• Institutional investors hold a significant portion of Ingredion's stock, with 85.27% ownership, indicating strong institutional confidence in the company.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on INGR. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Ingredion from $167.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ingredion from $149.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ingredion currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $151.40.

Ingredion Stock Performance

Shares of INGR traded up $0.41 on Friday, reaching $127.26. 48,742 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 528,346. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a PE ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.71. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $134.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $133.13. Ingredion has a 52-week low of $120.51 and a 52-week high of $155.44.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.09. The company 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%. Ingredion's revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.87 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ingredion will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ingredion

In other news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingredion

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of INGR. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ingredion in the second quarter valued at approximately $82,779,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in Ingredion by 327.2% during the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 531,413 shares of the company's stock worth $73,101,000 after buying an additional 407,027 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in Ingredion by 42.9% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,204,347 shares of the company's stock worth $162,840,000 after buying an additional 361,584 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Ingredion by 1,093.5% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 365,693 shares of the company's stock worth $49,445,000 after buying an additional 335,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Ingredion by 536.6% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 361,153 shares of the company's stock worth $49,680,000 after buying an additional 304,421 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.