Benchmark Begins Coverage on MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI)

Equities researchers at Benchmark began coverage on shares of MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark’s target price indicates a potential upside of 39.05% from the company’s previous close.

MGPI has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on MGP Ingredients from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen cut MGP Ingredients from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Zacks Research downgraded MGP Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of MGP Ingredients from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MGP Ingredients in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.60.

MGP Ingredients Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ MGPI opened at $25.17 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.29. The firm has a market cap of $535.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.57 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 2.78. MGP Ingredients has a one year low of $21.67 and a one year high of $38.11.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $130.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $128.33 million. MGP Ingredients had a positive return on equity of 9.65% and a negative net margin of 2.56%.MGP Ingredients’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. MGP Ingredients has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.600-2.750 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that MGP Ingredients will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MGP Ingredients news, major shareholder Caroline Lux Kaplan sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.85, for a total value of $715,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 560,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,378,848.30. The trade was a 5.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen Seaberg sold 81,616 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.84, for a total transaction of $2,108,957.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 35,285 shares in the company, valued at $911,764.40. The trade was a 69.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 334,535 shares of company stock valued at $8,224,668 in the last quarter. Insiders own 34.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MGP Ingredients

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,222,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,576,000 after buying an additional 99,995 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in MGP Ingredients by 32.8% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 987,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,879,000 after purchasing an additional 243,909 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 14.9% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 719,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,553,000 after buying an additional 93,086 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of MGP Ingredients by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 400,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,015,000 after acquiring an additional 46,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 116.6% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 359,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,571,000 after purchasing an additional 193,660 shares in the last quarter. 77.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.