Arizona State Retirement System Has $2.01 Million Stock Position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Arizona State Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,490 shares of the company’s stock after selling 306 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $2,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ingredion during the 4th quarter worth about $62,186,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Ingredion by 4,100.0% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 340,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,704,000 after purchasing an additional 332,719 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Ingredion by 73.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 752,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,019,000 after purchasing an additional 317,509 shares during the last quarter. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL bought a new stake in Ingredion during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,801,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Ingredion by 74.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 540,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,174,000 after purchasing an additional 230,885 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on INGR shares. StockNews.com raised Ingredion from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on Ingredion from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Ingredion from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $122.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Ingredion in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ingredion has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.67.

Ingredion Price Performance

Shares of INGR opened at $111.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.75. Ingredion Incorporated has a 52-week low of $89.54 and a 52-week high of $118.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.81.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. Ingredion had a return on equity of 18.57% and a net margin of 7.88%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Ingredion’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Ingredion Incorporated will post 9.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ingredion news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 54,581 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.24, for a total transaction of $6,399,076.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 99,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,635,601.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ingredion news, VP Davida Marie Gable sold 1,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.38, for a total transaction of $231,003.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,245.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 54,581 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.24, for a total value of $6,399,076.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 99,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,635,601.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,921 shares of company stock valued at $6,903,045 in the last quarter. 1.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.