Hennessy Advisors Inc. Acquires New Stake in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 426,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,642,000. Ingredion makes up about 1.7% of Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned about 0.65% of Ingredion as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Ingredion by 5.7% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 19,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Ingredion by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ingredion by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, Delphi Management Inc. MA raised its position in Ingredion by 0.8% in the second quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 15,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ingredion

In other news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 6,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total transaction of $861,120.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,083,922.44. The trade was a 17.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.76, for a total transaction of $8,052,574.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,795 shares in the company, valued at $1,877,794.20. The trade was a 81.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,692 shares of company stock worth $9,634,868 over the last ninety days. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ingredion Stock Performance

NYSE INGR opened at $134.37 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $141.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The company has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.75. Ingredion Incorporated has a 1-year low of $107.20 and a 1-year high of $155.44.

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 net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 17.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ingredion Incorporated will post 10.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Ingredion’s payout ratio is 31.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

INGR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Stephens upgraded shares of Ingredion to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ingredion from $128.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.17.

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.