KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes $2.66 Million Position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 19,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,655,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Ingredion by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,436,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,862,000 after acquiring an additional 19,560 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised 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 valued at $260,056,000 after purchasing an additional 268,389 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ingredion by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,167,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,516,000 after purchasing an additional 19,064 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Ingredion by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 842,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,930,000 after purchasing an additional 89,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Ingredion by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 753,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,675,000 after buying an additional 28,306 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on INGR shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Stephens decreased their target price on Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ingredion

In other news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 34,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,295,906.76. This trade represents a 24.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of INGR stock opened at $135.01 on Thursday. Ingredion Incorporated has a 12 month low of $109.51 and a 12 month high of $155.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a PE ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $131.57 and a 200-day moving average of $136.47.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. Ingredion’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio is 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.