Equity Investment Corp Acquires 16,272 Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Equity Investment Corp raised its holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Free Report) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 925,048 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,272 shares during the period. Ingredion comprises about 2.8% of Equity Investment Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Equity Investment Corp owned about 1.42% of Ingredion worth $100,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in INGR. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 96,083 shares of the company's stock worth $10,428,000 after buying an additional 17,166 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Ingredion by 54.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 667 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion in the 4th quarter valued at about $897,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Ingredion by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 169,161 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,359,000 after buying an additional 12,389 shares during the period. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion during the 4th quarter valued at $274,000. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company's stock.

Ingredion Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE INGR traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $119.63. 317,012 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 345,748. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a PEG ratio of 1.12 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. The company's 50-day moving average is $115.62 and its 200-day moving average is $110.57. Ingredion Incorporated has a 52-week low of $89.54 and a 52-week high of $122.18.

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 company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ingredion Incorporated will post 9.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ingredion from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $122.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com raised 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 price target on shares of Ingredion in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ingredion from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ingredion from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the company 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $127.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO James D. Gray sold 8,490 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.74, for a total value of $1,033,572.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,214,489.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO James D. Gray sold 8,490 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $5,214,489.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,369 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 69,779 shares of company stock valued at $8,218,681. Corporate 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.