Insider Buying: MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) Director Acquires $496,500.00 in Stock

MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) Director Martin Roper bought 15,000 shares of MGP Ingredients stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $33.10 per share, for a total transaction of $496,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $601,758. The trade was a 471.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

MGP Ingredients Price Performance

MGPI stock opened at $32.98 on Friday. MGP Ingredients, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.12 and a 1 year high of $92.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $701.55 million, a PE ratio of 6.86 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s 50-day moving average is $29.72 and its 200-day moving average is $37.05. 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 data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.05. MGP Ingredients had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 14.44%. The firm had revenue of $121.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 28.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that MGP Ingredients, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in MGP Ingredients by 1,564.2% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 214,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,289,000 after acquiring an additional 201,197 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 28.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 168,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,952,000 after purchasing an additional 36,951 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,145,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,654,000 after buying an additional 19,316 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 5.3% during the first quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 30,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 1,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL purchased a new stake in MGP Ingredients in the 1st quarter valued at $332,000. 77.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of MGP Ingredients from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded MGP Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on MGP Ingredients from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Lake Street Capital raised MGP Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.33.

MGP Ingredients Company Profile

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.