Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 574,700 shares, a drop of 12.0% from the February 29th total of 653,000 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 394,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ingredion

In other Ingredion news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 54,581 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.24, for a total value of $6,399,076.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 99,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,635,601.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ingredion news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 54,581 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.24, for a total value of $6,399,076.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 99,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,635,601.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Davida Marie Gable sold 1,968 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.38, for a total value of $231,003.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $202,245.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 58,921 shares of company stock valued at $6,903,037. 1.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Aspire Private Capital LLC increased its position in Ingredion by 172.3% during the 4th quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 354 shares of the company's stock worth $34,667,220,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Ingredion by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 359 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

INGR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Ingredion in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Ingredion from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ingredion from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $122.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Ingredion from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ingredion has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.67.

Ingredion Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE INGR traded down $0.47 on Friday, reaching $116.85. 340,615 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 446,252. Ingredion has a fifty-two week low of $89.54 and a fifty-two week high of $118.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $113.77 and a 200 day moving average of $105.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.81.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. Ingredion had a net margin of 7.88% and a return on equity of 18.57%. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ingredion will post 9.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.50%.

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.