Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Upgraded at Stephens

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) was upgraded by analysts at Stephens to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ingredion from $128.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.17.

Ingredion Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:INGR opened at $149.41 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $140.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.19. Ingredion has a 52 week low of $104.68 and a 52 week high of $155.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.58, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.74.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ingredion will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 371 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.58, for a total transaction of $49,558.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 52,159 shares in the company, valued at $6,967,399.22. This trade represents a 0.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 4,700 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.41, for a total transaction of $721,027.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 29,034 shares in the company, valued at $4,454,105.94. This represents a 13.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,197 shares of company stock worth $9,702,315. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of INGR. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of 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 stake in shares of Ingredion during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

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.