Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Price Target Raised to $173.00 at UBS Group

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) had its price target upped by UBS Group from $165.00 to $173.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ingredion from $128.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.17.

Ingredion Price Performance

Shares of Ingredion stock traded down $8.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $140.83. The company had a trading volume of 955,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 384,053. The company has a market capitalization of $9.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.73. Ingredion has a 1-year low of $100.90 and a 1-year high of $155.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.53.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by $0.47. Ingredion had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 17.75%. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.33 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ingredion will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. This is an increase from Ingredion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ingredion news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 4,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.41, for a total value of $721,027.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,454,105.94. This represents a 13.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.58, for a total value of $49,558.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 52,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,967,399.22. The trade was a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,056 shares of company stock worth $4,121,736. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ingredion

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of INGR. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Ingredion during the second quarter valued at $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Ingredion by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ingredion during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ingredion in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Company Profile

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.