MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) Shares Up 5.5% – Here’s Why

MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI)’s stock price traded up 5.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $36.74 and last traded at $36.57. 248,404 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 434,974 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Lake Street Capital cut shares of MGP Ingredients from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of MGP Ingredients from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of MGP Ingredients from $58.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen cut shares of MGP Ingredients from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of MGP Ingredients from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.29.

MGP Ingredients Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 6.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $43.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.15. The company has a market capitalization of $775.16 million, a P/E ratio of 7.34, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.65.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.02. MGP Ingredients had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $161.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. MGP Ingredients’s quarterly revenue was down 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MGP Ingredients, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.98%.

Insider Activity at MGP Ingredients

In related news, Director Lori L.S. Mingus sold 7,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.03, for a total value of $324,511.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 37,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,720,279.19. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 36.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,102,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,824,000 after purchasing an additional 137,292 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 790,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,801,000 after purchasing an additional 68,278 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 717,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,746,000 after purchasing an additional 131,542 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC grew its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 92.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 515,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,375,000 after purchasing an additional 248,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 67.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 495,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,261,000 after acquiring an additional 199,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.11% of the company’s stock.

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.