MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) Major Shareholder Sells $534,600.00 in Stock

MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) major shareholder Caroline Lux Kaplan sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.82, for a total value of $534,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 500,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,927,071.56. This represents a 5.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

MGP Ingredients Stock Performance

NASDAQ MGPI opened at $17.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. MGP Ingredients, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.45 and a 52-week high of $33.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $18.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.95. The firm has a market cap of $377.18 million, a P/E ratio of -1.58 and a beta of 0.49.

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

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -4.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MGP Ingredients

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MGPI. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted 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 valued at $34,939,000 after acquiring an additional 450,713 shares during the period. Tieton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in MGP Ingredients in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,998,000. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in MGP Ingredients in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,348,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in MGP Ingredients in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,896,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in MGP Ingredients by 116.6% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 359,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,571,000 after buying an additional 193,660 shares in the last quarter. 77.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MGPI. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on MGP Ingredients from $29.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on MGP Ingredients from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on MGP Ingredients from $41.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research raised MGP Ingredients from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered MGP Ingredients from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.75.

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.