Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 55.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,511 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 19,826 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.09% of Ingredion worth $6,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Ingredion by 73.0% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 752,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,019,000 after purchasing an additional 317,509 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Ingredion by 74.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 540,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,174,000 after acquiring an additional 230,885 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ingredion by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,345,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $722,810,000 after acquiring an additional 161,922 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in Ingredion by 833.7% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 136,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,442,000 after acquiring an additional 121,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp Et Al purchased a new position in shares of Ingredion during the third quarter worth about $7,889,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Stock Performance

Shares of INGR stock opened at $114.56 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $115.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a PE ratio of 11.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.81. Ingredion Incorporated has a 1 year low of $89.54 and a 1 year high of $118.83.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. Ingredion had a net margin of 7.88% and a return on equity of 18.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ingredion Incorporated will post 9.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. Ingredion’s payout ratio is currently 32.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

INGR has been the subject of several research reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Ingredion in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Ingredion from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $122.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ingredion from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ingredion from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ingredion

In related news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.08, for a total value of $272,624.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 28,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,333,407.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Davida Marie Gable sold 1,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.38, for a total value of $231,003.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,723 shares in the company, valued at $202,245.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.08, for a total transaction of $272,624.52. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,333,407.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,921 shares of company stock worth $6,903,045. 1.80% of the stock is 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.