MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.14 EPS

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.14, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $138.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $132.84 million. MGP Ingredients had a positive return on equity of 7.46% and a negative net margin of 19.82%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 23.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 EPS. MGP Ingredients updated its FY 2026 guidance to 1.500-1.800 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from MGP Ingredients’ conference call:

• Management finished 2025 above guidance and delivered strong cash generation, with consolidated operating cash flow up 19% to $122 million despite lower earnings.
• The company expects 2026 to be another down year with net sales $480–500M, adjusted EBITDA $90–98M, and adjusted EPS $1.50–1.80, and a $111 million Penelope earnout in Q2 will push net leverage to about 3.75x and reduce 2026 operating cash flow by nearly $50M.
• Branded Spirits will be the primary growth engine — Penelope grew ~80% in Nielsen dollar sales, doubled distribution points, and management will modestly increase A&P to ~13.5% with a major shift into digital and a plan to rationalize ~20% of tail SKUs.
• Distilling Solutions remains under significant pressure (Q4 sales down ~47%, full?year down ~45%) and 2026 guidance assumes brown?goods sales down ~35% and gross profit down ~40%, though management expects this to be the trough and anticipates clearer visibility by mid?year.
• Ingredient Solutions appears poised to recover after operational fixes — the key equipment was back online in November, extrusion protein sales hit a record in Q4, and the company expects strong double?digit sales growth and mid?to?high?teens gross margins in 2026, albeit with some near?term waste?disposal costs remaining.

MGP Ingredients Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of NASDAQ MGPI traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $19.00. 493,929 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 275,918. The stock has a market capitalization of $404.59 million, a P/E ratio of -3.82 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 2.61. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.43. MGP Ingredients has a twelve month low of $18.48 and a twelve month high of $35.49.

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio is -9.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MGPI shares. Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of MGP Ingredients in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of MGP Ingredients from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of MGP Ingredients in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded MGP Ingredients from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on MGP Ingredients from $29.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at MGP Ingredients

In related news, Director Karen Seaberg sold 81,616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.84, for a total value of $2,108,957.44. Following the transaction, the director owned 35,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $911,764.40. This trade represents a 69.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 304,535 shares of company stock valued at $7,509,168 over the last quarter. 34.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MGP Ingredients

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in MGP Ingredients by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,437,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,939,000 after purchasing an additional 450,713 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 8.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,222,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,576,000 after purchasing an additional 99,995 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 13.3% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 400,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,015,000 after acquiring an additional 46,978 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 193,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 359,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,737,000 after purchasing an additional 80,808 shares during the period. 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.