Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Ingevity Corporation (NYSE:NGVT) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $68.54 and last traded at $68.29, with a volume of 24268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ingevity from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ingevity from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Zacks Research raised Ingevity to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ingevity in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ingevity from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.00.

Ingevity Stock Up 1.1%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.39, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of -38.10 and a beta of 1.36.

Ingevity (NYSE:NGVT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $333.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $360.43 million. Ingevity had a positive return on equity of 103.69% and a negative net margin of 5.14%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ingevity Corporation will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingevity

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ingevity in the fourth quarter worth approximately $86,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Ingevity in the 4th quarter valued at $8,083,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in shares of Ingevity by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 81,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,825,000 after buying an additional 2,522 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ingevity in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,305,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ingevity by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. 91.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ingevity

Ingevity Corporation, traded as NGVT, is a specialty chemicals and performance materials company headquartered in North Charleston, South Carolina. The company operates two primary business units: Performance Chemicals and Performance Materials. The Performance Chemicals segment produces and markets specialty chemicals derived largely from wood and other natural feedstocks, including rosin acids, tall oil fatty acids and esters, as well as specialty petroleum resins. These products serve a broad range of industries, including paper, adhesives, coatings, oilfield drilling and consumer goods.

The Performance Materials segment develops and manufactures activated carbon products and composites for applications such as automotive emissions control, industrial air and water purification, and spill containment.