Paul Lux Sells 33,000 Shares of MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) Stock

MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) insider Paul Lux sold 33,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.76, for a total value of $586,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 550,458 shares in the company, valued at $9,776,134.08. The trade was a 5.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

MGP Ingredients Price Performance

Shares of MGPI opened at $17.91 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $17.43 and its 200 day moving average is $18.77. MGP Ingredients, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.72 and a 12-month high of $29.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 6.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $383.45 million, a P/E ratio of -1.59 and a beta of 0.47.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.23. MGP Ingredients had a negative net margin of 48.08% and a positive return on equity of 7.41%. The business had revenue of $124.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $125.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. MGP Ingredients’s quarterly revenue was down 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. MGP Ingredients has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.800 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MGP Ingredients, Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MGP Ingredients Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. MGP Ingredients’s payout ratio is presently -4.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MGP Ingredients

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MGP Ingredients in the 1st quarter worth $735,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in MGP Ingredients by 4.8% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in MGP Ingredients by 116.6% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 359,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,571,000 after purchasing an additional 193,660 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in MGP Ingredients by 10.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 158,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,668,000 after purchasing an additional 14,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in MGP Ingredients by 9.4% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 157,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,723,000 after purchasing an additional 13,556 shares during the last quarter. 77.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MGPI has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on MGP Ingredients from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research upgraded MGP Ingredients from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MGP Ingredients in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MGP Ingredients from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.25.

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.