MGP Ingredients (MGPI) and Its Competitors Critical Analysis

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) is one of 137 publicly-traded companies in the “Beverages” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare MGP Ingredients to related companies based on the strength of its profitability, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares MGP Ingredients and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
MGP Ingredients	$536.38 million	-$107.81 million	-1.44
MGP Ingredients Competitors	$130.24 billion	$869.16 million	6.05

MGP Ingredients’ peers have higher revenue and earnings than MGP Ingredients. MGP Ingredients is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

77.1% of MGP Ingredients shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 36.3% of shares of all “Beverages” companies are held by institutional investors. 31.7% of MGP Ingredients shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.4% of shares of all “Beverages” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares MGP Ingredients and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MGP Ingredients	-51.12%	6.58%	3.75%
MGP Ingredients Competitors	-7.97%	-14.06%	0.46%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for MGP Ingredients and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MGP Ingredients	1	2	3	0	2.33
MGP Ingredients Competitors	1290	4341	5790	232	2.43

MGP Ingredients presently has a consensus target price of $26.25, indicating a potential upside of 56.33%. As a group, “Beverages” companies have a potential upside of 8.78%. Given MGP Ingredients’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe MGP Ingredients is more favorable than its peers.

Dividends

MGP Ingredients pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. MGP Ingredients pays out -4.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Beverages” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.9% and pay out 48.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Risk and Volatility

MGP Ingredients has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MGP Ingredients’ peers have a beta of -0.22, suggesting that their average stock price is 122% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

MGP Ingredients beats its peers on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

About MGP Ingredients

MGP Ingredients, Inc. is a producer of distilled spirits and specialty ingredients, with roots in grain processing dating to 1941. Based in Atchison, Kansas, the company serves beverage-alcohol producers and food manufacturers in the United States and international markets. Through its distilling operations, MGP produces and supplies whiskey, bourbon, rye, gin, vodka and other distilled spirits. Its services include contract production and related capabilities for spirits customers. The company also sells branded spirits, including brands added through its acquisition of Luxco.