MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) Research Coverage Started at Benchmark

Benchmark started coverage on shares of MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock.

MGPI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of MGP Ingredients from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MGP Ingredients in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded MGP Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MGP Ingredients from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 11th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of MGP Ingredients from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.60.

MGP Ingredients Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of MGPI opened at $25.16 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.21. MGP Ingredients has a 1-year low of $21.67 and a 1-year high of $38.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $535.66 million, a P/E ratio of -37.55 and a beta of 0.37.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.23. MGP Ingredients had a positive return on equity of 9.65% and a negative net margin of 2.56%.The company had revenue of $130.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $128.33 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. MGP Ingredients’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. MGP Ingredients has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.600-2.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that MGP Ingredients will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. MGP Ingredients’s payout ratio is currently -71.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MGP Ingredients

In other news, major shareholder Caroline Lux Kaplan sold 30,000 shares of MGP Ingredients stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.85, for a total transaction of $715,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 560,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,378,848.30. This trade represents a 5.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Karen Seaberg sold 181,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.24, for a total transaction of $4,389,742.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 37,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $906,988.08. This trade represents a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 334,535 shares of company stock worth $8,224,668 in the last ninety days. 34.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MGP Ingredients

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Palouse Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 101.2% during the fourth quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 1,480 shares during the last quarter. Unison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MGP Ingredients during the 4th quarter worth about $719,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in MGP Ingredients by 653.8% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,131 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in MGP Ingredients during the 4th quarter valued at about $104,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,305 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.11% of the company’s stock.

About MGP Ingredients

MGP Ingredients, Inc (NASDAQ: MGPI) is a leading producer of distilled spirits and specialty ingredient solutions for the food, beverage and consumer products industries. Headquartered in Atchison, Kansas, the company operates two main facilities—its historic Atchison plant, founded in 1941 as Midwest Grain Products, and a modern distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. MGP Ingredients supplies an array of distillation products under its beverage and ingredient segments, serving brand owners, private-label producers and co-packers worldwide.

The beverage segment features a broad portfolio of premium spirits, including bourbon and rye whiskies, vodka, gin and neutral spirits.