Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 725,374 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,812 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.11% of Ingredion worth $99,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Ingredion by 75.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 194,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,109,000 after acquiring an additional 83,708 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ingredion by 0.5% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the 3rd quarter valued at $149,000. Fulcrum Equity Management increased its stake in Ingredion by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 4,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 620 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Ingredion by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ingredion

In other 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 29,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,083,922.44. This represents a 17.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.76, for a total transaction of $8,052,574.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,877,794.20. This represents a 81.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,198 shares of company stock worth $9,702,461. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on INGR. UBS Group increased their price target on Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ingredion from $128.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. 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 note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Ingredion to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.17.

Ingredion Stock Performance

Shares of INGR opened at $138.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.69. Ingredion Incorporated has a 12-month low of $106.03 and a 12-month high of $155.44. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $142.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $131.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.74.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ingredion Incorporated will post 10.59 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.22%.

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.