MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) Major Shareholder Caroline Lux Kaplan Sells 30,000 Shares

MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) major shareholder Caroline Lux Kaplan sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.82, for a total transaction of $534,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 500,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,927,071.56. The trade was a 5.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

MGP Ingredients Price Performance

Shares of MGPI stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $18.31. The company had a trading volume of 28,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 262,446. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $18.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.03. MGP Ingredients, Inc. has a one year low of $16.45 and a one year high of $33.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 2.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $391.35 million, a P/E ratio of -1.64 and a beta of 0.49.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $106.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $105.32 million. MGP Ingredients had a positive return on equity of 7.48% and a negative net margin of 45.70%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. MGP Ingredients has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.800 EPS. Equities analysts expect that MGP Ingredients, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio is currently -4.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on MGPI shares. Zacks Research raised shares of MGP Ingredients from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Roth Mkm cut their price objective on MGP Ingredients from $41.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on MGP Ingredients from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on MGP Ingredients from $29.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of MGP Ingredients from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.75.

Institutional Trading of MGP Ingredients

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MGPI. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,437,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,939,000 after acquiring an additional 450,713 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,222,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,576,000 after purchasing an additional 99,995 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 78,849 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in MGP Ingredients by 13.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 400,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,015,000 after purchasing an additional 46,978 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 116.6% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 359,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,571,000 after purchasing an additional 193,660 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.11% of the company’s stock.

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.