Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Share Price Breaks Above 50 Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Ingredion shares moved above their 50-day moving average, reaching $98.96 and closing near $98.89, though they remained below the 200-day average of $105.67.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating from nine analysts, with an average price target of $120.29.
• Ingredion exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, while increasing its quarterly dividend to $0.83 per share, representing a 3.4% annual yield.

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $98.37 and traded as high as $98.96. Ingredion shares last traded at $98.8930, with a volume of 680,525 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on INGR shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ingredion from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Ingredion from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $118.00 to $115.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $108.00 to $104.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $120.29.

Ingredion Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $98.37 and a 200-day moving average of $105.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 2.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.65.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.11. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.21% and a return on equity of 15.40%. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.87 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ingredion Incorporated will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is a positive change from Ingredion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 1st. Ingredion's payout ratio is currently 36.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Fischer sold 1,662 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $170,039.22. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,930 shares in the company, valued at $2,039,038.30. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingredion

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Amundi increased its position in shares of Ingredion by 19.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 142,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,029,000 after acquiring an additional 23,122 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Ingredion during the second quarter worth about $2,526,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Ingredion during the second quarter worth about $1,355,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Ingredion during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,548,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Ingredion during the second quarter valued at approximately $479,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ingredion Company Profile

Ingredion Incorporated NYSE: INGR is a global ingredient solutions provider that develops and produces starches, sweeteners, texturizers, fibers, plant-based proteins and other specialty ingredients. The company processes plant-based raw materials, including corn, tapioca, potato, rice and other grains, into ingredients used by manufacturers across a range of industries.

Ingredion's products support food and beverage applications such as bakery products, dairy and alternative dairy, confectionery, beverages and prepared foods.

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