Heartland Advisors Inc. Buys 12,389 Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Heartland Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 169,161 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,389 shares during the quarter. Ingredion comprises about 1.0% of Heartland Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned about 0.26% of Ingredion worth $18,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of INGR. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Ingredion by 63.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 377 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Ingredion by 414.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 401 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Ingredion by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 359 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Ingredion by 59.8% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 425 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Ingredion during the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ingredion Price Performance

Shares of Ingredion stock traded down $3.24 on Tuesday, hitting $118.13. 535,311 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 389,368. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.44. Ingredion Incorporated has a 52 week low of $89.54 and a 52 week high of $122.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.28.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.08. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ingredion Incorporated will post 9.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ingredion from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ingredion from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Ingredion in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ingredion from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $122.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $127.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Davida Marie Gable sold 1,968 shares of the business'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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,723 shares in the company, valued at $202,245.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ingredion news, VP Davida Marie Gable sold 1,968 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.38, for a total transaction of $231,003.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at $202,245.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 54,581 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.24, for a total transaction of $6,399,076.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,635,601.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,779 shares of company stock worth $8,218,681. Insiders own 1.80% 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.