Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Shares Acquired by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,383 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $1,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ingredion by 92.4% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,764,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,332,000 after acquiring an additional 846,967 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ingredion by 55,219.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 174,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,240,000 after purchasing an additional 174,495 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Ingredion by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,685,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,009,000 after purchasing an additional 125,543 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in Ingredion during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $17,094,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ingredion by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 321,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,902,000 after purchasing an additional 115,147 shares in the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.76, for a total value of $8,052,574.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,877,794.20. This trade represents a 81.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 6,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total transaction of $861,120.52. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 65,692 shares of company stock worth $9,634,868. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of INGR opened at $132.93 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.74. Ingredion Incorporated has a 52 week low of $107.20 and a 52 week high of $155.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $142.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.58 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 10.59 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Ingredion’s payout ratio is 31.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

INGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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. Barclays boosted their price target on Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stephens upgraded Ingredion to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ingredion presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.17.

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.