Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Stake Raised by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 346.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,599 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,448 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $1,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Ingredion in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ingredion in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Ingredion by 653.3% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 226 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ingredion by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on INGR shares. Stephens cut their price target on Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Ingredion from $167.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $155.00 price target on Ingredion in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ingredion currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $152.20.

Ingredion Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of INGR stock opened at $135.46 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.62. Ingredion Incorporated has a twelve month low of $111.54 and a twelve month high of $155.44. The company has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.73.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.53. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 8.71%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. Ingredion’s payout ratio is 33.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ingredion

In other Ingredion news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.82, for a total value of $325,968.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,345,696.72. This trade represents a 6.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $1,361,392.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,127 shares in the company, valued at $4,295,906.76. This trade represents a 24.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,215 shares of company stock valued at $1,687,360 in the last 90 days. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.