MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) Short Interest Update

MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,198,612 shares, a decrease of 15.7% from the February 26th total of 1,422,466 shares. Currently, 8.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 341,402 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MGPI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered MGP Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered MGP Ingredients from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 22nd. 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 report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MGP Ingredients in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their price target on shares of MGP Ingredients from $41.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MGP Ingredients currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.00.

MGP Ingredients Price Performance

Shares of MGP Ingredients stock opened at $18.60 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 0.70. MGP Ingredients has a one year low of $16.45 and a one year high of $34.99. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $397.35 million, a P/E ratio of -3.73 and a beta of 0.44.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.14. MGP Ingredients had a positive return on equity of 7.46% and a negative net margin of 19.82%.The firm had revenue of $138.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. MGP Ingredients has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.800 EPS. Analysts forecast that MGP Ingredients will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MGP Ingredients

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 130.3% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 935 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MGP Ingredients by 653.8% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in MGP Ingredients during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in MGP Ingredients by 237.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in MGP Ingredients by 278.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares during the last quarter. 77.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About MGP Ingredients

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.