MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) Coverage Initiated at Benchmark

Investment analysts at Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark’s price objective points to a potential upside of 39.11% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of MGP Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on MGP Ingredients from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MGP Ingredients in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered MGP Ingredients from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on MGP Ingredients from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MGP Ingredients presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.60.

MGP Ingredients Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MGPI opened at $25.16 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $24.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.25. MGP Ingredients has a twelve month low of $21.67 and a twelve month high of $38.11. The stock has a market cap of $535.66 million, a P/E ratio of -37.55 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at MGP Ingredients

In other MGP Ingredients news, Director Karen Seaberg sold 181,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.24, for a total value of $4,389,742.80. Following the sale, the director owned 37,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $906,988.08. This trade represents a 82.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Caroline Lux Kaplan sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.85, for a total transaction of $715,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 560,958 shares in the company, valued at $13,378,848.30. The trade was a 5.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 334,535 shares of company stock worth $8,224,668. 34.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MGP Ingredients

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MGPI. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 130.3% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 653.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of MGP Ingredients by 278.9% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 1,386 shares during the period. Palouse Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MGP Ingredients by 101.2% during the fourth quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 1,480 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 89.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,332 shares in the last quarter. 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.