Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT) Upgraded to "Buy" at Jefferies Financial Group

Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $62.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $52.00. Jefferies Financial Group's price target suggests a potential upside of 29.63% from the company's current price.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ingevity from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ingevity presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.40.

Ingevity Stock Performance

Shares of NGVT traded up $3.39 on Monday, reaching $47.83. 323,254 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 222,871. Ingevity has a 12 month low of $36.66 and a 12 month high of $72.76. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -217.41 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $46.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.57.

Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.34. The company had revenue of $371.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.74 million. Ingevity had a positive return on equity of 20.75% and a negative net margin of 0.32%. The company's revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ingevity will post 3.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ingevity

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ingevity by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,743,322 shares of the company's stock worth $176,760,000 after purchasing an additional 153,530 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Ingevity by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,148,379 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,446,000 after purchasing an additional 80,856 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Ingevity by 57.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,854,554 shares of the company's stock worth $87,572,000 after purchasing an additional 677,718 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ingevity by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 793,942 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,490,000 after purchasing an additional 52,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Ingevity by 14.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 494,464 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,541,000 after purchasing an additional 62,418 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.59% of the company's stock.

Ingevity Company Profile

Ingevity Corporation manufactures and sells activated carbon products, derivative specialty chemicals, and engineered polymers in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South America. It operates through three segments: Performance Materials, Performance Chemicals, and Advanced Polymer Technologies.