MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MGP Ingredients in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of MGP Ingredients from $38.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of MGP Ingredients from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MGP Ingredients presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.00.

MGP Ingredients Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:MGPI opened at $23.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $510.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.79 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $24.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.83. MGP Ingredients has a 52 week low of $21.67 and a 52 week high of $40.26.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $130.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $128.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. MGP Ingredients has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.600-2.750 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MGP Ingredients will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio is currently -71.64%.

Insider Activity at MGP Ingredients

In related news, Director Karen Seaberg sold 181,095 shares of MGP Ingredients stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 37,417 shares in the company, 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 the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Caroline Lux Kaplan sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.85, for a total value of $715,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 560,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,378,848.30. This represents a 5.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 334,535 shares of company stock worth $8,224,668 over the last quarter. Insiders own 34.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 130.3% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 935 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 278.9% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 89.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,332 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of MGP Ingredients by 382.4% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 3,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MGP Ingredients in the third quarter worth $96,000. 77.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.