Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,360 Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 19.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,687 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,360 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ingredion during the third quarter worth $41,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Ingredion during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Ingredion by 431.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners increased its holdings in Ingredion by 82.6% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 493 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ingredion

In related news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 6,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total transaction of $861,120.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,083,922.44. This represents a 17.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.76, for a total transaction of $8,052,574.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,877,794.20. This represents a 81.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 60,992 shares of company stock worth $8,913,841. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Price Performance

NYSE:INGR opened at $127.66 on Tuesday. Ingredion Incorporated has a one year low of $107.77 and a one year high of $155.44. The company has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $137.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.69.

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

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

INGR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ingredion has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.33.

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.