What's Behind Ingevity's 27% Rally in the Past 6 Months?

Ingevity Corporation NGVT shares have gained 26.6% over the past six months. The company has also outperformed the Zacks Chemical - Specialty industry’s 7.3% decline and the S&P 500’s 11.8% increase over the same period.

Ingevity Boosts Portfolio With Strategic Acquisitions

Ingevity is strengthening its portfolio through its focus on value-creating acquisitions that enhance efficiency and lend exposure to profitable markets. The acquisition of Georgia-Pacific’s pine chemicals business has delivered benefits through optimization of production, lower procurement and logistics costs, and margin expansion. The Capa caprolactone acquisition added a differentiated technology platform that has meaningful end-use applications such as coatings, adhesives and specialty polymers, resulting in a sustainable revenue stream. The Ozark Materials acquisition strengthens Ingevity’s presence in the construction market, which will help the company benefit from demand in the infrastructure market.

Long-Term Growth Initiatives Favor Ingevity

Beyond acquisitions, Ingevity is advancing initiatives to ensure long-term growth amid favorable trends in the end-markets. The company has successfully repositioned its Performance Chemicals business by exiting lower-margin markets, driving improved working capital, strong free cash flow and higher EBITDA.

The potential divestiture of Advanced Polymer Technologies will also help the company toward higher margins. Growth is further supported by first commercial Tall Oil Fatty Acid sales in European biofuels and expanded soy-based fatty acid production capacity. Capacity additions in caprolactone monomers and polyols, opportunities in the methane value chain and the globalization of the Pavement Technology business will enable growth.

Ingevity Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Ingevity Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Ingevity Corporation Quote

NGVT’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

NGVT currently sports a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Agnico Eagle Mines AEM, Kinross Gold Corporation KGC and Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited HMY.

At present, AEM and KGF sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each, while HMY carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AEM’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $7.87 per share, indicating a rise of 86.05%. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 11.63%. AEM’s shares have gained 109.1% over the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KGC’s 2025 fiscal-year earnings is pinned at $1.68 per share, indicating a 147.06% year-over-year increase. Its shares have surged 187.9% over the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HMY’s current fiscal-year earnings is pinned at $2.68 per share, indicating a 111.02% year-over-year increase.HMY’s shares have gained 138.7% over the past year.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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