Vestcor Inc Invests $716,000 in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Ingredion in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in Ingredion in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Ingredion in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ingredion by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Ingredion in the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:INGR opened at $131.37 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $131.60 and a 200 day moving average of $136.59. The company has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Ingredion Incorporated has a 12-month low of $109.51 and a 12-month high of $155.44.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 8.71%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.96%.

Insider Activity at Ingredion

In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,361,392.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,295,906.76. The trade was a 24.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

INGR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Stephens cut their price target on Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.20.

Ingredion 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.