MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Sunday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of MGP Ingredients from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of MGP Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on MGP Ingredients from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MGP Ingredients in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Benchmark initiated coverage on MGP Ingredients in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.60.

MGP Ingredients Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of MGPI opened at $25.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 2.78. MGP Ingredients has a 52-week low of $21.67 and a 52-week high of $35.49. The firm has a market cap of $552.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.70 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.94 and its 200-day moving average is $25.55.

Insider Activity

In other MGP Ingredients news, Director Karen Seaberg sold 181,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.24, for a total value of $4,389,742.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 37,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $906,988.08. The trade was a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 304,535 shares of company stock worth $7,509,168 over the last 90 days. 34.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MGP Ingredients

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MGP Ingredients in the first quarter worth about $735,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in MGP Ingredients by 116.6% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 359,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,571,000 after purchasing an additional 193,660 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in MGP Ingredients by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 158,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,668,000 after purchasing an additional 14,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 102.1% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.