MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on MGPI. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on MGP Ingredients from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MGP Ingredients in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on MGP Ingredients from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut MGP Ingredients from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MGP Ingredients presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.25.

MGP Ingredients Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:MGPI opened at $25.05 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $533.41 million, a P/E ratio of -37.39 and a beta of 0.37. MGP Ingredients has a 12 month low of $21.67 and a 12 month high of $38.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $24.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.60.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.23. MGP Ingredients had a negative net margin of 2.56% and a positive return on equity of 9.65%. The company had revenue of $130.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.33 million. MGP Ingredients’s quarterly revenue was down 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. MGP Ingredients has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.600-2.750 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that MGP Ingredients will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio is presently -71.64%.

Insider Transactions at MGP Ingredients

In other news, major shareholder Caroline Lux Kaplan sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.85, for a total transaction of $715,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 560,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,378,848.30. The trade was a 5.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen Seaberg sold 181,095 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.24, for a total transaction of $4,389,742.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 37,417 shares in the company, valued at $906,988.08. This represents a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 334,535 shares of company stock worth $8,224,668. Company insiders own 34.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MGP Ingredients

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,222,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,576,000 after buying an additional 99,995 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 32.8% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 987,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,879,000 after acquiring an additional 243,909 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC grew its stake in MGP Ingredients by 14.9% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 719,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,553,000 after acquiring an additional 93,086 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 13.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 400,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,015,000 after acquiring an additional 46,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 116.6% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 359,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,571,000 after purchasing an additional 193,660 shares during the period. 77.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.