Washington Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Washington Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 63.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,915 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,480 shares during the period. Washington Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of INGR. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Ingredion during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ingredion during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ingredion by 431.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of Ingredion by 82.6% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 493 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $86,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was 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 directly owns 12,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,877,794.20. This trade represents a 81.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 4,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.41, for a total value of $721,027.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 29,034 shares in the company, valued at $4,454,105.94. The trade was a 13.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 65,692 shares of company stock valued at $9,634,868 over the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ingredion Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:INGR opened at $136.68 on Thursday. Ingredion Incorporated has a 52 week low of $107.40 and a 52 week high of $155.44. The company’s fifty day moving average is $139.86 and its 200-day moving average is $135.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market capitalization of $8.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.75.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.58 by $0.47. Ingredion had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 17.75%. The company had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.33 EPS. Ingredion’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 10.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.22%.

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.