HighTower Advisors LLC Raises Position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,879 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $2,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Ingredion during the fourth quarter valued at about $20,454,000. Moran Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ingredion during the fourth quarter valued at about $208,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Ingredion by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,269,000 after purchasing an additional 3,292 shares in the last quarter. Taika Capital LP purchased a new stake in Ingredion during the fourth quarter valued at about $729,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Ingredion during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE INGR opened at $130.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.75. Ingredion Incorporated has a 1 year low of $109.51 and a 1 year high of $155.44. The business’s 50-day moving average is $131.51 and its 200 day moving average is $136.50.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 8.71%. Ingredion’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Ingredion’s payout ratio is presently 32.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ingredion news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on INGR. Stephens lowered their price target on Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.20.

Ingredion 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.