Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Shares Sold by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,047 shares of the company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Ingredion by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,305,000 after buying an additional 21,619 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Ingredion by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,821,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in Ingredion by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 68,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,060,000 after buying an additional 2,182 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ingredion in the 1st quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, Chesapeake Capital Corp IL purchased a new position in shares of Ingredion during the 1st quarter worth $1,151,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ingredion Price Performance

INGR opened at $149.19 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $137.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.19. Ingredion Incorporated has a 12-month low of $100.90 and a 12-month high of $155.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.73.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 17.75% and a net margin of 9.05%. Ingredion’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ingredion Incorporated will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. This is a positive change from Ingredion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ingredion

In other news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.58, for a total transaction of $49,558.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,967,399.22. This trade represents a 0.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 4,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.41, for a total value of $721,027.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,034 shares in the company, valued at $4,454,105.94. This trade represents a 13.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,056 shares of company stock valued at $4,121,736 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

INGR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ingredion from $128.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on Ingredion from $141.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays increased their price target on Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com cut Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $151.00.

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.