Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,212 shares of the company’s stock after selling 520 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ingredion during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,812,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Ingredion by 23.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,305,000 after purchasing an additional 21,619 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ingredion by 3.4% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 301,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,251,000 after acquiring an additional 9,925 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Ingredion by 2.4% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,821,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 4.0% in the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ingredion Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE INGR opened at $149.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.73. Ingredion Incorporated has a one year low of $100.90 and a one year high of $155.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $136.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.52.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.58 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 17.75% and a net margin of 9.05%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ingredion Incorporated will post 10.6 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Ingredion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio is 31.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ingredion news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.58, for a total value of $49,558.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,967,399.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.58, for a total value of $49,558.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,159 shares in the company, valued at $6,967,399.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 4,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.41, for a total value of $721,027.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,454,105.94. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,056 shares of company stock worth $4,121,736. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on INGR shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays increased 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ingredion from $128.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ingredion from $141.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $151.00.

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.