Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases 100 Shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,100 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $2,490,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion in the 4th quarter valued at about $161,000. Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 27,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,845,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 81.6% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ingredion Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of INGR opened at $128.24 on Friday. Ingredion Incorporated has a 12 month low of $108.40 and a 12 month high of $155.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $136.37 and its 200-day moving average is $136.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 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 (NYSE:INGR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio is 32.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were 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 owns 12,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,877,794.20. This trade represents a 81.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Ingredion

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.