Royal Bank of Canada Acquires 39,524 Shares of MGP Ingredients, Inc. $MGPI

Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) by 78.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 90,139 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,524 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in MGP Ingredients were worth $1,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tieton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MGP Ingredients during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,998,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MGP Ingredients in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,278,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of MGP Ingredients in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,725,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in MGP Ingredients during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,064,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 760,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,979,000 after acquiring an additional 78,849 shares during the period. 77.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MGP Ingredients Stock Down 2.2%

NASDAQ MGPI opened at $17.50 on Wednesday. MGP Ingredients, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.72 and a 1 year high of $30.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $374.68 million, a PE ratio of -1.55 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 6.99 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The business’s 50-day moving average is $17.27 and its 200 day moving average is $19.03.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.23. MGP Ingredients had a positive return on equity of 7.41% and a negative net margin of 48.08%.The business had revenue of $124.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $125.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. MGP Ingredients’s quarterly revenue was down 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. MGP Ingredients has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.800 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that MGP Ingredients, Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MGP Ingredients Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio is currently -4.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Caroline Lux Kaplan sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.82, for a total value of $534,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 500,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,927,071.56. This trade represents a 5.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 31.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MGPI. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MGP Ingredients from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of MGP Ingredients from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of MGP Ingredients from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MGP Ingredients in a report on Friday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.25.

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.