AlphaQuest LLC Buys 1,801 Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 286.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,429 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,801 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ingredion in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ingredion during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Ingredion by 431.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the third quarter worth approximately $86,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $1,361,392.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 34,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,295,906.76. This represents a 24.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE INGR opened at $131.37 on Friday. Ingredion Incorporated has a one year low of $109.51 and a one year high of $155.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $131.60 and its 200-day moving average is $136.54.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 18.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Ingredion’s payout ratio is presently 32.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

INGR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens cut their price target on shares of Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.20.

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.