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

MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.00.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Lake Street Capital raised shares of MGP Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on 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 cut shares of MGP Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Roth Mkm dropped their target price on MGP Ingredients from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Karen Seaberg sold 28,304 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.82, for a total value of $872,329.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 283,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,739,596.58. This represents a 9.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 36.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MGP Ingredients

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in MGP Ingredients by 24.9% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 51,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 10,316 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in MGP Ingredients by 6,210.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 43,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 43,285 shares during the period. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MGP Ingredients during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $316,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in MGP Ingredients in the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,932,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 122,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,835,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.11% of the company’s stock.

MGP Ingredients Price Performance

MGPI opened at $28.82 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 6.46, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. MGP Ingredients has a 12-month low of $25.12 and a 12-month high of $92.52. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.30. The company has a market capitalization of $613.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 0.61.

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. MGP Ingredients’s payout ratio is 31.79%.

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.