MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) Now Covered by Analysts at Benchmark

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

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

MGP Ingredients Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:MGPI opened at $25.17 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $535.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.57 and a beta of 0.37. MGP Ingredients has a 52-week low of $21.67 and a 52-week high of $38.11. 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 (NASDAQ:MGPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $130.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.33 million. MGP Ingredients had a negative net margin of 2.56% and a positive return on equity of 9.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. MGP Ingredients has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.600-2.750 EPS. Analysts expect that MGP Ingredients will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

MGP Ingredients Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -71.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Karen Seaberg sold 181,095 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 37,417 shares in the company, valued at $906,988.08. The trade was a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Caroline Lux Kaplan sold 30,000 shares of MGP Ingredients stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $13,378,848.30. This trade represents a 5.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 334,535 shares of company stock worth $8,224,668 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 34.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MGP Ingredients

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MGP Ingredients during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $584,000. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new position in shares of MGP Ingredients in the third quarter valued at $1,752,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in MGP Ingredients in the third quarter worth $4,702,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in MGP Ingredients in the second quarter worth $1,280,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in MGP Ingredients by 183.3% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 743,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,274,000 after purchasing an additional 480,885 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.11% of the company’s stock.

MGP Ingredients Company Profile

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.