Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Short Interest Up 6.3% in April

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 614,900 shares, an increase of 6.3% from the April 15th total of 578,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 387,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Ingredion

In related news, CFO James D. Gray sold 8,490 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.74, for a total transaction of $1,033,572.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,833 shares in the company, valued at $5,214,489.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO James D. Gray sold 8,490 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.74, for a total value of $1,033,572.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,214,489.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,369 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.08, for a total value of $272,624.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,333,407.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,779 shares of company stock worth $8,218,681 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ingredion

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in shares of Ingredion during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Ingredion by 63.9% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 377 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Ingredion by 414.1% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 401 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ingredion by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 359 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Ingredion by 59.8% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 425 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Ingredion Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of INGR stock traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $119.63. 317,012 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 345,748. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $7.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.81. Ingredion has a fifty-two week low of $89.54 and a fifty-two week high of $122.18. The stock's 50 day moving average is $115.62 and its 200-day moving average is $110.57.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.02 billion. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.45% and a return on equity of 16.56%. Ingredion's revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. Analysts predict that Ingredion will post 9.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on INGR shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ingredion from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $122.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ingredion from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Ingredion in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ingredion from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $127.17.

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.