Caroline Lux Kaplan Sells 30,000 Shares of MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) Stock

MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) major shareholder Caroline Lux Kaplan sold 30,000 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,927,071.56. This represents a 5.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

MGP Ingredients Stock Performance

Shares of MGPI opened at $17.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 2.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $377.20 million, a P/E ratio of -1.58 and a beta of 0.49. MGP Ingredients, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.45 and a 52 week high of $33.38.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $106.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.32 million. MGP Ingredients had a positive return on equity of 7.48% and a negative net margin of 45.70%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. MGP Ingredients has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.800 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that MGP Ingredients, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio is currently -4.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MGP Ingredients

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in MGP Ingredients by 130.3% in the second 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 last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MGP Ingredients by 653.8% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in MGP Ingredients in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in MGP Ingredients by 237.0% in the fourth 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 lifted its stake in MGP Ingredients by 278.9% in the second 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MGPI shares. Wall Street Zen lowered MGP Ingredients from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered MGP Ingredients from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on MGP Ingredients from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research raised MGP Ingredients from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their target price on MGP Ingredients from $41.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.75.

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.