MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.25.

MGPI has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of MGP Ingredients from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of MGP Ingredients from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of MGP Ingredients from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MGP Ingredients in a report on Friday, July 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling at MGP Ingredients

In related news, major shareholder Caroline Lux Kaplan sold 30,000 shares of MGP Ingredients stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.82, for a total value of $534,600.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 500,958 shares in the company, valued at $8,927,071.56. The trade was a 5.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 31.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MGP Ingredients

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MGPI. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,437,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,939,000 after purchasing an additional 450,713 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MGP Ingredients in the 2nd quarter valued at about $22,258,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MGP Ingredients by 8.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,222,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,576,000 after purchasing an additional 99,995 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of MGP Ingredients by 11.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 760,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,979,000 after purchasing an additional 78,849 shares during the period. Finally, Tieton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in MGP Ingredients during the second quarter worth about $11,252,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.11% of the company’s stock.

MGP Ingredients Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MGPI opened at $18.06 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.93. MGP Ingredients has a 1-year low of $15.72 and a 1-year high of $30.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 6.99 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The company has a market cap of $386.66 million, a PE ratio of -1.60 and a beta of 0.47.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $124.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $125.16 million. MGP Ingredients had a negative net margin of 48.08% and a positive return on equity of 7.41%. MGP Ingredients’s revenue was down 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. MGP Ingredients has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.800 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that MGP Ingredients will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

MGP Ingredients Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -4.26%.

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.