Peterson Wealth Services Takes $221,000 Position in MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI)

Peterson Wealth Services bought a new position in MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 13.8% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,873,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,427,000 after acquiring an additional 349,237 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in MGP Ingredients in the first quarter worth $7,549,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 8.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,092,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,956,000 after purchasing an additional 86,892 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 999.3% in the first quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 89,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,680,000 after purchasing an additional 81,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 58.0% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 217,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,932,000 after purchasing an additional 79,791 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.11% of the company’s stock.

MGP Ingredients Stock Performance

Shares of MGP Ingredients stock traded up $1.34 during trading on Thursday, hitting $79.12. 19,241 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 205,377. 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 1 year low of $75.78 and a 1 year high of $124.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.20, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.52.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.26. The company 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%. MGP Ingredients’s revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that MGP Ingredients, Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

MGP Ingredients Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Erika Lapish bought 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $77.86 per share, with a total value of $38,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,823. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 28.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised MGP Ingredients from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of MGP Ingredients in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th.

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.