Aviva PLC Purchases New Stake in MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI)

Aviva PLC purchased a new stake in shares of MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $917,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. North Star Investment Management Corp. bought a new stake in MGP Ingredients during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 76.2% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in MGP Ingredients during the 3rd quarter valued at $112,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 3,088.7% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637 shares in the last quarter. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MGP Ingredients

In other news, Director Karen Seaberg sold 5,415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.33, for a total value of $499,966.95. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 162,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,026,338.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 28,494 shares of company stock valued at $2,714,607 in the last three months. 28.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of MGP Ingredients from $128.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of MGP Ingredients in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

MGP Ingredients Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:MGPI opened at $103.26 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $97.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.26. The company has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.40 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 4.65 and a quick ratio of 1.63. MGP Ingredients, Inc. has a 1-year low of $89.01 and a 1-year high of $125.74.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $201.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.43 million. MGP Ingredients had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 13.86%. The company’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that MGP Ingredients, Inc. will post 5.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 18th. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.41%.

MGP Ingredients Company Profile

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MGP Ingredients, Inc engages in the manufacture and trade of food, beverage, specialty wheat protein and starch food ingredients. It operates through the following segments: Distillery Products, Branded Spirits and Ingredient Solutions. The Distillery Products segment consists of food grade alcohol and distillery co-products, such as distillers feed and fuel grade alcohol.