Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ingredion from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.17.

Ingredion Price Performance

NYSE INGR traded up $1.50 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $114.77. 312,262 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 398,212. The stock has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.72. Ingredion has a one year low of $89.54 and a one year high of $122.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $115.96 and a 200-day moving average of $113.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 8.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ingredion will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.11, for a total transaction of $282,171.59. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,436,085.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Ingredion news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 2,369 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.11, for a total value of $282,171.59. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,436,085.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 27,500 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.36, for a total value of $3,199,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,073,642.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,359 shares of company stock valued at $4,515,644. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingredion

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Loews Corp grew its holdings in Ingredion by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Loews Corp now owns 200,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,706,000 after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Paradiem LLC grew its holdings in Ingredion by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 73,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,943,000 after purchasing an additional 28,617 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Ingredion by 230.9% during the first quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 13,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,604,000 after purchasing an additional 9,577 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Ingredion by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,471,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,243,000 after purchasing an additional 82,599 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas bought a new position in Ingredion during the first quarter worth about $1,154,000. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

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.