Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Position in MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 594.5% during the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 19,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,875,000 after purchasing an additional 16,290 shares during the period. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP increased its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 50.4% during the fourth quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 9,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $932,000 after purchasing an additional 3,170 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 464.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 7,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of MGP Ingredients in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on shares of MGP Ingredients from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of MGP Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday.

MGP Ingredients Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MGPI opened at $80.54 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.51 and a quick ratio of 1.47. MGP Ingredients, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.78 and a 1 year high of $124.96.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.26. MGP Ingredients had a net margin of 12.72% and a return on equity of 16.03%. The business had revenue of $214.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $206.87 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that MGP Ingredients, Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MGP Ingredients Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MGP Ingredients

In related news, VP Erika Lapish bought 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $77.86 per share, for a total transaction of $38,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,823. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 28.70% 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.