Contrasting MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) & Heineken (OTCMKTS:HEINY)

Heineken (OTCMKTS:HEINY) and MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Heineken and MGP Ingredients’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Heineken	N/A	N/A	N/A
MGP Ingredients	-2.56%	9.65%	5.83%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Heineken and MGP Ingredients, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Heineken	0	0	3	3	3.50
MGP Ingredients	1	1	3	0	2.40

MGP Ingredients has a consensus price target of $33.25, indicating a potential upside of 34.29%. Given MGP Ingredients’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe MGP Ingredients is more favorable than Heineken.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

77.1% of MGP Ingredients shares are held by institutional investors. 34.4% of MGP Ingredients shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Heineken and MGP Ingredients”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Heineken	$38.91 billion	1.19	$1.06 billion	N/A	N/A
MGP Ingredients	$703.62 million	0.75	$34.66 million	($0.67)	-36.96

Heineken has higher revenue and earnings than MGP Ingredients.

Risk & Volatility

Heineken has a beta of 0.4, meaning that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MGP Ingredients has a beta of 0.37, meaning that its stock price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Heineken pays an annual dividend of $0.65 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. MGP Ingredients pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. MGP Ingredients pays out -71.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

About Heineken

Heineken N.V. brews and sells beer and cider in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides soft drinks and water. It offers its beers under the Heineken, Heineken Light, Orchard Thieves, Orchard Thieves Light, Birra Moretti, Coors, Murphy's and Beamish Stouts, Desperados, Tiger, Sol, and Foster's brand, as well as under regional and local brands. The company offers its products to retailers, wholesalers, cafes, bars, pubs, hotels, and restaurants. Heineken N.V. was incorporated in 1864 and is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The company operates as a subsidiary of Heineken Holding N.V.

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. The Distillery Solutions segment provides food grade alcohol for beverage applications that include bourbon, rye, whiskeys, as well as grain neutral spirits, include vodka and gin; and food-grade industrial alcohol, which is used as an ingredient in food products, personal care products, cleaning solutions, pharmaceuticals, and various other products. This segment also offers distillery co-products, such as dried distillers’ grain, fuel-grade alcohol for blending with gasoline, and corn oil; and provides warehouse services, including barrel put away, barrel storage, and barrel retrieval services, as well as blending services. The Branded Spirits segment provides premium plus, ultra-premium, super premium, premium, mid, and value branded distilled spirits, as well as private label products. The Ingredient Solutions segment provides specialty wheat starches for food applications under the Fibersym, Resistant Starch series, and FiberRite RW Resistant Starch names; specialty wheat proteins for food applications under the Arise and Proterra names; gluten-free textured pea proteins; commodity wheat starch for food and non-food applications; and commodity wheat proteins. It sells its products directly or through distributors to manufacturers and processors of finished packaged goods or to bakeries. The company was founded in 1941 and is based in Atchison, Kansas.