MetLife Investment Management LLC Has $5.05 Million Stock Holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Free Report) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,737 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,101 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Ingredion worth $5,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Ingredion during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Ingredion by 653.3% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 226 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ingredion by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Ingredion Price Performance

Shares of Ingredion stock traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $130.83. 100,254 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 461,278. Ingredion Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $111.54 and a fifty-two week high of $155.44. The company has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 18.62%. The company's revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.96%.

Insider Transactions at Ingredion

In other news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $1,361,392.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,295,906.76. This represents a 24.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

INGR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Ingredion from $167.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group set a $155.00 target price on shares of Ingredion in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ingredion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.