MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• MGP Ingredients has a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" from six brokerages, with an average 12-month price target of $27.75. Recent analyst actions have been mixed, including several price target cuts and rating changes.
• An insider transaction drew attention: major shareholder Caroline Lux Kaplan sold 30,000 shares at $17.82 each, reducing her stake by 5.65%. Insiders still own 31.70% of the company.
• The company recently beat quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.15 per share versus the $0.04 estimate, but revenue declined 12.5% year over year. MGP also paid a $0.12 quarterly dividend, implying a 2.8% annualized yield.

Shares of MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.75.

MGPI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on MGP Ingredients from $29.00 to $24.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research upgraded MGP Ingredients from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Roth Mkm reduced their target price on MGP Ingredients from $41.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on MGP Ingredients from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered MGP Ingredients from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, February 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MGP Ingredients news, major shareholder Caroline Lux Kaplan sold 30,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider owned 500,958 shares in the company, valued at $8,927,071.56. This trade represents a 5.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 31.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MGP Ingredients

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MGPI. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 130.3% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 935 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 653.8% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,131 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MGP Ingredients during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 237.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 278.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,883 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,386 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.11% of the company's stock.

MGP Ingredients Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MGPI opened at $17.07 on Tuesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $18.80 and its 200 day moving average is $21.87. MGP Ingredients has a fifty-two week low of $16.45 and a fifty-two week high of $33.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $364.80 million, a PE ratio of -1.53 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 2.74.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. MGP Ingredients had a positive return on equity of 7.48% and a negative net margin of 45.70%.The company had revenue of $106.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. MGP Ingredients's quarterly revenue was down 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. MGP Ingredients has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.800 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MGP Ingredients will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. MGP Ingredients's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -4.31%.

MGP Ingredients Company Profile

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.

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