Peterson Wealth Services Buys Shares of 2,239 MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI)

Peterson Wealth Services bought a new stake in shares of MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 2,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in MGP Ingredients by 13.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 44,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,817,000 after acquiring an additional 5,249 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 9.1% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 11,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $951,000 after buying an additional 928 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 22.2% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of MGP Ingredients by 4.6% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 54.9% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 7,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $638,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MGPI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of MGP Ingredients in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com upgraded MGP Ingredients from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday.

MGP Ingredients Stock Performance

Shares of MGPI traded up $1.34 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $79.12. 19,241 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 205,377. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $83.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 4.51 and a quick ratio of 1.47. MGP Ingredients, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.78 and a twelve month high of $124.96. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.76.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $214.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $206.87 million. MGP Ingredients had a return on equity of 16.03% and a net margin of 12.72%. The business’s revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MGP Ingredients, Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MGP Ingredients Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.00%.

Insider Activity at MGP Ingredients

In related news, VP Erika Lapish purchased 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $77.86 per share, for a total transaction of $38,930.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,823. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 28.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.