Entropy Technologies LP Buys New Shares in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $727,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in Ingredion by 195.2% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 7,676 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 0.8% in 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. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ingredion by 75.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 194,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,109,000 after purchasing an additional 83,708 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 725,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,683,000 after purchasing an additional 10,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fractal Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ingredion in the 4th quarter worth $344,000. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.76, for a total transaction of $8,052,574.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 6,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.66, for a total value of $861,120.52. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,034 shares in the company, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,992 shares of company stock worth $8,913,841. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Price Performance

Shares of Ingredion stock opened at $128.68 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $137.21 and a 200 day moving average of $136.33. Ingredion Incorporated has a 52 week low of $107.77 and a 52 week high of $155.44. The company has a market cap of $8.39 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 18.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Ingredion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. Ingredion’s payout ratio is 32.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

INGR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com cut Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens lowered their price objective 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. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.33.

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.