MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) Short Interest Update

MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,198,612 shares, a decline of 15.7% from the February 26th total of 1,422,466 shares. Currently, 8.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 341,402 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Institutional Trading of MGP Ingredients

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 320.8% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 51,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,242,000 after purchasing an additional 38,999 shares during the period. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC raised its position in MGP Ingredients by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC now owns 78,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,910,000 after buying an additional 5,258 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MGP Ingredients in the 4th quarter worth $2,278,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MGP Ingredients by 349.9% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 128,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,129,000 after acquiring an additional 100,131 shares during the period. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 144.9% in the fourth quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 38,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 22,652 shares in the last quarter. 77.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MGP Ingredients Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ MGPI traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 221,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 302,317. MGP Ingredients has a 1 year low of $16.45 and a 1 year high of $34.99. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $391.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.68 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. MGP Ingredients had a positive return on equity of 7.46% and a negative net margin of 19.82%.The business had revenue of $138.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $132.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. MGP Ingredients has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.800 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that MGP Ingredients will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MGPI. Roth Mkm cut their price objective on shares of MGP Ingredients from $41.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of MGP Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MGP Ingredients in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on MGP Ingredients from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on MGP Ingredients from $29.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MGP Ingredients has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.00.

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.