First Trust Advisors LP Makes New Investment in MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI)

First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 27,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,099,000. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.13% of MGP Ingredients at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in MGP Ingredients by 162.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 697 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 192.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 699 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 38,379 shares of the company's stock worth $1,511,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in MGP Ingredients by 56.0% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,913 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in MGP Ingredients by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 12,475 shares of the company's stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.11% of the company's stock.

MGP Ingredients Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MGPI opened at $31.66 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $673.30 million, a P/E ratio of 6.58 and a beta of 0.32. MGP Ingredients, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.12 and a 12-month high of $92.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 6.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $121.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $119.14 million. MGP Ingredients had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 14.39%. MGP Ingredients's revenue for the quarter was down 28.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. Analysts predict that MGP Ingredients, Inc. will post 5.56 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, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. MGP Ingredients's dividend payout ratio is currently 106.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MGPI. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of MGP Ingredients from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Lake Street Capital raised shares of MGP Ingredients from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $45.00 in a research note 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 for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised MGP Ingredients from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MGP Ingredients has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Karen Seaberg acquired 5,348 shares of MGP Ingredients stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.59 per share, with a total value of $174,291.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 358,899 shares in the company, valued at $11,696,518.41. This represents a 1.51 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,417 shares of company stock worth $905,556. 36.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MGP Ingredients Company Profile

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.

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