Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Shares Sold by Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC

Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,545 shares of the company’s stock after selling 134 shares during the quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ingredion were worth $1,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of INGR. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ingredion in the fourth quarter worth $58,642,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Ingredion by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,890,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,056,000 after buying an additional 268,389 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ingredion by 55,219.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 174,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,240,000 after buying an additional 174,495 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in shares of Ingredion during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $17,094,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 75.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 194,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,109,000 after acquiring an additional 83,708 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ingredion Stock Up 1.2 %

INGR opened at $136.68 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $139.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.52. Ingredion Incorporated has a 1 year low of $107.40 and a 1 year high of $155.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market cap of $8.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.75.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.58 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 17.75% and a net margin of 9.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ingredion Incorporated will post 10.59 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

INGR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Ingredion from $147.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stephens upgraded Ingredion to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. 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 report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ingredion from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $145.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ingredion currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ingredion

In related news, SVP Larry Fernandes sold 6,122 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO James D. Gray sold 54,869 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,795 shares in the company, valued at $1,877,794.20. This trade represents a 81.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,692 shares of company stock valued at $9,634,868 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.