MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $75.83.

MGPI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Loop Capital set a $75.00 price target on shares of MGP Ingredients in a report on Friday, October 18th. Roth Mkm lowered their target price on MGP Ingredients from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen cut MGP Ingredients from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $50.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised MGP Ingredients from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Lake Street Capital downgraded shares of MGP Ingredients from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $135.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lori L.S. Mingus sold 7,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.03, for a total transaction of $324,511.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,373 shares in the company, valued at $1,720,279.19. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 36.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MGP Ingredients

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MGPI. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of MGP Ingredients by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 7,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in MGP Ingredients by 25.9% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in MGP Ingredients during the second quarter worth about $42,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of MGP Ingredients in the 2nd quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of MGP Ingredients by 107.9% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 25,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,911,000 after purchasing an additional 13,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.11% of the company’s stock.

MGP Ingredients Stock Performance

NASDAQ MGPI opened at $39.37 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.51. The company has a market capitalization of $864.29 million, a P/E ratio of 8.19, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.63. MGP Ingredients has a 1-year low of $38.24 and a 1-year high of $101.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 6.46 and a quick ratio of 1.94.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.02. MGP Ingredients had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 14.44%. The business had revenue of $161.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that MGP Ingredients will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.98%.

About MGP Ingredients

MGP Ingredients, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and supply of distilled spirits, branded spirits, and food ingredients in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Distillery Solutions; Branded Spirits; and Ingredient Solutions.