MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MGP Ingredients in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered MGP Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. TD Cowen cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on MGP Ingredients from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of MGP Ingredients in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Four 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.60.

MGP Ingredients Stock Performance

Shares of MGPI stock opened at $25.81 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $549.49 million, a PE ratio of -38.52 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $24.94 and a 200-day moving average of $25.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 0.69. MGP Ingredients has a one year low of $21.67 and a one year high of $35.49.

Insider Buying and Selling at MGP Ingredients

In other news, Director Karen Seaberg sold 181,095 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.24, for a total transaction of $4,389,742.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 37,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $906,988.08. This trade represents a 82.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 304,535 shares of company stock worth $7,509,168. 34.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of MGP Ingredients

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 183.3% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 743,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,274,000 after purchasing an additional 480,885 shares during the period. Tieton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in MGP Ingredients in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,998,000. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MGP Ingredients in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,348,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of MGP Ingredients during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,896,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of MGP Ingredients during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,702,000. Institutional investors own 77.11% of the company’s stock.

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.