Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Position Trimmed by Uncommon Cents Investing LLC

Uncommon Cents Investing LLC reduced its holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,620 shares of the company’s stock after selling 190 shares during the quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $1,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Ingredion in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Ingredion by 431.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ingredion during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners increased its position in Ingredion by 82.6% in 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 period. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on INGR. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ingredion from $128.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stephens upgraded shares of Ingredion to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on 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 objective on Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ingredion currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.17.

Insider Activity at Ingredion

In other news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 6,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total transaction of $861,120.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,034 shares in the company, valued at $4,083,922.44. The trade was a 17.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders sold a total of 65,692 shares of company stock valued at $9,634,868 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Stock Performance

INGR opened at $135.16 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $141.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The company has a market capitalization of $8.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.75. Ingredion Incorporated has a 1-year low of $107.20 and a 1-year high of $155.44.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.58 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 17.75% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.33 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 10.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Ingredion’s payout ratio is currently 31.22%.

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.