Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 28,306 Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 753,680 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,306 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $103,675,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,436,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,862,000 after acquiring an additional 19,560 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,890,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,056,000 after acquiring an additional 268,389 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,539,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,529,000 after acquiring an additional 36,421 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,167,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,516,000 after acquiring an additional 19,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the 4th quarter worth $58,642,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ingredion

In related news, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ingredion Price Performance

INGR stock opened at $125.52 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $135.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.50. Ingredion Incorporated has a 12-month low of $109.51 and a 12-month high of $155.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.09. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 18.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors 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 2.55%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.20.

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.