Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $125.8333.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on INGR. iA Financial set a $124.00 target price on Ingredion in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ingredion in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ingredion from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ingredion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ingredion in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th.

Ingredion Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE INGR opened at $117.00 on Friday. Ingredion has a 52 week low of $102.31 and a 52 week high of $141.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $114.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $7.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.71.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.59 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Ingredion had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 17.32%. Ingredion’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.63 earnings per share. Ingredion has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.000-11.8 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ingredion will post 11.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ingredion

In other news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.55, for a total transaction of $131,118.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 30,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,556,406.70. The trade was a 3.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 9,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.55, for a total value of $1,160,604.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 33,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,847,432.05. The trade was a 23.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 48,311 shares of company stock valued at $5,741,840 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of INGR. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 22,036.7% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,037,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032,421 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Ingredion by 90.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,994,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,949,000 after buying an additional 950,006 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ingredion during the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,310,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ingredion by 143.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,191,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,685,000 after acquiring an additional 701,063 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in Ingredion by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,207,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,101,000 after acquiring an additional 303,807 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ingredion

Ingredion Incorporated is a global ingredient solutions company specializing in the production and sale of starches, sweeteners, nutrition ingredients and biomaterials derived primarily from corn and other plant-based raw materials. The company serves a diverse set of industries, including food and beverage, brewing, pharmaceuticals and personal care, providing functional ingredients that enhance texture, stability, flavor and nutritional value in a wide array of end products.

The company’s product portfolio comprises native and modified starches, high-fructose corn syrup, dextrose, maltodextrins, specialty sweeteners and various texturizers.