MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Friday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm dropped their target price on MGP Ingredients from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of MGP Ingredients in a report on Wednesday, April 10th.

MGP Ingredients Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ MGPI opened at $80.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 4.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. MGP Ingredients has a twelve month low of $75.78 and a twelve month high of $124.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $82.67 and its 200 day moving average is $89.64.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.26. MGP Ingredients had a return on equity of 16.03% and a net margin of 12.72%. The company had revenue of $214.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $206.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that MGP Ingredients will post 6.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MGP Ingredients Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MGP Ingredients news, VP Erika Lapish purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $77.86 per share, with a total value of $38,930.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,823. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 28.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,126,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,965,000 after purchasing an additional 31,839 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 888,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,570,000 after acquiring an additional 13,587 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 698,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,804,000 after acquiring an additional 17,967 shares during the period. Southernsun Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 470,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,370,000 after acquiring an additional 38,404 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 21.7% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 387,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,333,000 after acquiring an additional 68,950 shares during the period. 77.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About MGP Ingredients

MGP Ingredients, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and supply of distilled spirits, branded spirits, and food ingredients in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Distillery Solutions; Branded Spirits; and Ingredient Solutions.