Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 460 Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,867 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $1,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Ingredion by 195.2% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after buying an additional 7,676 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Ingredion by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,436,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,862,000 after buying an additional 19,560 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 75.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 194,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,109,000 after acquiring an additional 83,708 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ingredion by 1.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 725,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,683,000 after acquiring an additional 10,812 shares during the period. Finally, Fractal Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ingredion during the 4th quarter valued at $344,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ingredion

In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $1,361,392.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,295,906.76. This represents a 24.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Price Performance

INGR stock opened at $130.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $131.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.47. Ingredion Incorporated has a 52-week low of $109.51 and a 52-week high of $155.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.71.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.09. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 8.71%. The business had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on INGR shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens cut their price objective on Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.20.

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.