Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,140,000 shares, a growth of 21.2% from the July 15th total of 940,700 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 413,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ingredion news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 27,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 52,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,073,642.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Robert A. Ritchie sold 1,195 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total transaction of $149,375.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,988,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 27,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,073,642.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,695 shares of company stock worth $3,349,275 in the last ninety days. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingredion

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in Ingredion in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Ingredion in the second quarter worth about $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ingredion by 102.6% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Price Performance

Shares of INGR stock opened at $130.99 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $118.85 and its 200 day moving average is $116.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.13, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.72. Ingredion has a twelve month low of $89.54 and a twelve month high of $131.52.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.34. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.45% and a return on equity of 16.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Ingredion will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on Ingredion from $141.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Ingredion from $126.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ingredion from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Ingredion from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $122.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.33.

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.