Yacktman Asset Management LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Yacktman Asset Management LP reduced its position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,654,909 shares of the company’s stock after selling 189,795 shares during the quarter. Ingredion comprises approximately 2.7% of Yacktman Asset Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Yacktman Asset Management LP’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $227,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Ingredion in the fourth quarter valued at $161,000. Equitable Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 27,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,845,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in Ingredion by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Ingredion by 81.6% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Ingredion in the fourth quarter valued at $727,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ingredion news, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of the company’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 directly owns 12,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,877,794.20. This represents a 81.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 6,122 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total transaction of $861,120.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,083,922.44. The trade was a 17.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,992 shares of company stock valued at $8,913,841 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on INGR. StockNews.com downgraded Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Stephens decreased 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.33.

Ingredion Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Ingredion stock opened at $127.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $137.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.62. Ingredion Incorporated has a one year low of $107.77 and a one year high of $155.44.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.96%.

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.