Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Decreases Stock Position in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,578,296 shares of the company’s stock after selling 81,189 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 3.96% of Ingredion worth $354,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Ingredion by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 583,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,209,000 after acquiring an additional 10,703 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ingredion by 220.4% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 2,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 1,898 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ingredion by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,223,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new position in Ingredion during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,738,000. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ingredion Stock Performance

Shares of INGR stock opened at $129.59 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.72. Ingredion Incorporated has a 12-month low of $111.54 and a 12-month high of $155.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $130.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.78. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 18.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. Analysts expect that Ingredion Incorporated will post 11.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $178.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens decreased their price objective on Ingredion from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $145.00 target price (down from $165.00) on shares of Ingredion in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Ingredion from $147.00 to $133.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $152.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ingredion news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 10,815 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $1,361,392.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 34,127 shares in the company, valued at $4,295,906.76. The trade was a 24.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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.