Eastern Bank Invests $199,000 in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR)

Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in INGR. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Ingredion by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ingredion during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ingredion during the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ingredion in the second quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upgraded Ingredion from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $122.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Ingredion from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ingredion from $141.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ingredion from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ingredion from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 371 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.58, for a total transaction of $49,558.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 52,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,967,399.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 22,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.14, for a total value of $3,024,857.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,046,374.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 371 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.58, for a total value of $49,558.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,159 shares in the company, valued at $6,967,399.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,551 shares of company stock valued at $3,550,084. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Ingredion Stock Performance

Shares of Ingredion stock opened at $135.52 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.22. Ingredion Incorporated has a one year low of $90.72 and a one year high of $138.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.72.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. Ingredion had a return on equity of 17.18% and a net margin of 8.47%. Ingredion’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ingredion Incorporated will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ingredion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This is a positive change from Ingredion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Ingredion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.06%.

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.