Short Interest in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Rises By 33.8%

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,820,000 shares, an increase of 33.8% from the January 31st total of 1,360,000 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 533,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Ingredion Stock Up 0.1 %

INGR opened at $129.22 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $132.29 and a 200-day moving average of $136.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 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 has a 1-year low of $109.51 and a 1-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 company had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ingredion will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.96%.

Insider Activity at Ingredion

In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $1,361,392.20. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ingredion

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Ingredion during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ingredion by 653.3% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

INGR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens reduced their price objective 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 decreased their price target on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group raised 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. StockNews.com cut Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ingredion presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.