ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 374 Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 360,865 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. Ingredion accounts for 2.0% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.55% of Ingredion worth $39,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of INGR. Quarry LP bought a new position in Ingredion in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Ingredion by 63.9% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 414.1% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Ingredion by 33.7% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 484 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ingredion

In other news, VP Davida Marie Gable sold 1,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.38, for a total value of $231,003.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,723 shares in the company, valued at $202,245.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 54,581 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.24, for a total transaction of $6,399,076.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,246 shares in the company, valued at $11,635,601.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Davida Marie Gable sold 1,968 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.38, for a total value of $231,003.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,723 shares in the company, valued at $202,245.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 58,921 shares of company stock valued at $6,903,045 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE INGR traded up $1.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $113.67. 360,054 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 401,313. Ingredion Incorporated has a 12 month low of $89.54 and a 12 month high of $118.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $114.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $7.46 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.81.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.57% and a net margin of 7.88%. The company’s revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ingredion Incorporated will post 9.62 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

INGR has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Ingredion from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Ingredion in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Ingredion from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $122.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ingredion has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.67.

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.