One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$192.67 our estimate vs market $96.14
Wall Street consensus: $119.50 (-38.0% lower than our fair-value estimate)
50% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Ingredion Incorporated
INGR · NYQ · Consumer Defensive · Packaged Foods
Current price
$96.14
52-week range
$93.72 - $123.49
Market cap
$6.06B
Balance sheet
Healthy
28.03x Strong cushion
Net debt $831.00M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
0 Risks
3 rewards · 0 risks
- Reward Returns 13.7% on equity, ahead of 83% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 9/10 years.
- Reward Trades at 10.5x P/E vs peer median 23.0x (54.5% cheaper).
What this company does
Ingredion Incorporated
Ingredion takes plants like corn and turns them into specialized ingredients, such as sweeteners and starches, for other businesses to use. These ingredients are essential building blocks for a huge variety of everyday products, from soft drinks and snacks to paper and laundry detergents. Because its products are a necessary part of so many different customer supply chains (the network of companies involved in creating and distributing a product), Ingredion's business is tied to the broad demand for consumer goods.
How the company got here
Ingredion started over 100 years ago as Corn Products Refining Company in 1906, initially focused on products from corn like cornstarch and corn syrup. A key turning point was the acquisition of National Starch in 2010, which significantly expanded its business into more specialized ingredients. To better reflect its broader focus beyond just corn products, the company changed its name from Corn Products International to Ingredion in 2012. Over the years, it has grown by purchasing other companies to add new technologies and expand into different parts of the world.
What it actually does
Ingredion takes raw materials like corn, potatoes, tapioca, and other plants and turns them into ingredients that other companies use to make everyday products. You might not see the Ingredion name on a product at the grocery store, but their ingredients are in many things you buy, from food and drinks to paper and personal care items. For example, their starches can make crackers crunchier and yogurt creamier, while their sweeteners are used in beverages and candies. They also make ingredients for industrial uses, like making paper stronger or creating biodegradable plastics.
Texture & Healthful Solutions
This is Ingredion's global business focused on creating ingredients that improve the feel and nutritional quality of foods. This segment develops specialty starches, plant-based proteins, and ingredients for sugar reduction that food and beverage makers buy to create products that are healthier or have a more appealing texture. This is a major growth area for the company, representing a significant portion of their business as they shift towards more profitable, specialized products. Companies pay Ingredion for these ingredients to make things like gluten-free foods, low-sugar drinks, or creamy, plant-based yogurts.
Food & Industrial Ingredients – LATAM
This part of the company sells a wide range of starches and sweeteners to customers in Latin America. These ingredients are used by food and beverage manufacturers in products like baked goods, drinks, and candy. This segment has a long history in the region and serves both large multinational companies and smaller local producers. It represents a substantial portion of Ingredion's business in that part of the world.
Food & Industrial Ingredients – U.S./CANADA
Similar to its Latin American counterpart, this segment focuses on selling starches and sweeteners in the United States and Canada. Its customers are in various industries, including food and beverage, brewing, and paper manufacturing. For example, a company that makes corrugated boxes might buy starches from Ingredion to use as an adhesive. This is a core part of their business that generates significant cash flow (the money left over after the costs of running the business).
What management is betting on now
Management is focused on growing its specialty ingredients business, particularly in areas like texture and 'clean-label' (products with simple, natural-sounding ingredients) solutions. They are also investing in plant-based proteins and ingredients that help other companies reduce the sugar in their products. The company's strategy is to shift from selling basic ingredients to providing more customized solutions that help their customers solve specific product development challenges. This involves working closely with customers in their innovation labs to co-create new products.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$429.00M
FY2024 Q4
$305.00M
FY2025 Q1
$-15.00M
FY2025 Q2
$84.00M
FY2025 Q3
$172.00M
FY2025 Q4
$270.00M
FY2026 Q1
$-77.00M
FY2026 Q2
$-10.00M
Revenue
$1.85B
Net income
$114.00M
Diluted EPS
1.78
Operating cash flow
$90.00M
Free cash flow
$-10.00M
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Sources
Revenue
$1.79B
Net income
$142.00M
Diluted EPS
2.22
Operating cash flow
$33.00M
Free cash flow
$-77.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.76B
Net income
$165.00M
Diluted EPS
2.56
Operating cash flow
$405.00M
Free cash flow
$270.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.82B
Net income
$171.00M
Diluted EPS
2.61
Operating cash flow
$277.00M
Free cash flow
$172.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.83B
Net income
$196.00M
Diluted EPS
2.99
Operating cash flow
$185.00M
Free cash flow
$84.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.81B
Net income
$197.00M
Diluted EPS
3.00
Operating cash flow
$77.00M
Free cash flow
$-15.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.80B
Net income
$95.00M
Diluted EPS
1.43
Operating cash flow
$436.00M
Free cash flow
$305.00M
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Sources
Revenue
$1.87B
Net income
$188.00M
Diluted EPS
2.83
Operating cash flow
$479.00M
Free cash flow
$429.00M
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Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $192.67 vs current price $96.14
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $119.50 (-38.0% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $192.67 a share — about 100.4% above today's price of $96.14, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net debt $831.0M. Interest coverage 28.0x.
Net debt
$831.00M
Interest coverage
28.03x
Ingredion Incorporated's profit covers its interest bill about 28.0 times over. which is stronger than every peer shown here.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
INGR
BASELINE
Ingredion Incorporated
Total debt $1.78B Interest coverage 28.03x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $9.34B Interest coverage 2.33x -92% vs INGR Carries about 12.0x less debt cushion than INGR.
Total debt $17.06B Interest coverage 2.06x -93% vs INGR Carries about 13.6x less debt cushion than INGR.
Total debt $1.29B Interest coverage 4.28x -85% vs INGR Carries about 6.5x less debt cushion than INGR.
Total debt $6.28B Interest coverage 3.68x -87% vs INGR Carries about 7.6x less debt cushion than INGR.
Total debt $3.17B Interest coverage 10.19x -64% vs INGR Carries about 2.7x less debt cushion than INGR.
What you should know
The case for and against INGR
3 Rewards
0 Risks
Rewards
-
Returns 13.7% on equity, ahead of 83% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 9/10 years.
-
Trades at 10.5x P/E vs peer median 23.0x (54.5% cheaper).
Risks
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
10.46x
Forward P/E
8.54x
P/B
1.34x
P/S
0.84x
EV/EBITDA
6.01x
PEG ratio
1.13x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
23.7%
Operating margin
12.6%
Net margin
8.2%
ROE
13.7%
ROA
7.3%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.39x
Current ratio
2.80x
Quick ratio
1.86x
Total debt
$1.78B
Total cash
$952.00M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$7.21B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
1.2%
EPS TTM
9.19
EPS 5Y CAGR
15.1%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$805.00M
Free CF TTM
$511.00M
FCF margin
7.1%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
3.4%
Payout ratio
35.7%
Last ex-div date
2026-10-01