Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $62.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $52.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 26.79% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ingevity from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.40.

Ingevity Stock Performance

Shares of Ingevity stock opened at $48.90 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $46.23 and a 200-day moving average of $43.61. Ingevity has a 1-year low of $36.66 and a 1-year high of $72.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19. The company has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of -222.27 and a beta of 1.85.

Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.34. Ingevity had a negative net margin of 0.32% and a positive return on equity of 20.75%. The company had revenue of $371.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ingevity will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingevity

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NGVT. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ingevity by 57.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,854,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,572,000 after acquiring an additional 677,718 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ingevity during the third quarter worth $7,463,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ingevity by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,743,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,760,000 after buying an additional 153,530 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Ingevity by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,148,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,446,000 after buying an additional 80,856 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Ingevity by 14.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 494,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,541,000 after buying an additional 62,418 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

About Ingevity

Ingevity Corporation manufactures and sells activated carbon products, derivative specialty chemicals, and engineered polymers in North America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South America. It operates through three segments: Performance Materials, Performance Chemicals, and Advanced Polymer Technologies.