Aurora Investment Counsel Acquires New Shares in MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI)

Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new position in MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 28,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,132,000. MGP Ingredients comprises about 1.3% of Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Aurora Investment Counsel owned 0.13% of MGP Ingredients at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Scout Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 30.5% during the first quarter. Scout Investments Inc. now owns 85,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,325,000 after purchasing an additional 20,073 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its stake in MGP Ingredients by 239.2% during the 1st quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 64,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,560,000 after buying an additional 45,527 shares during the last quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 470,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,370,000 after buying an additional 38,404 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 387,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,333,000 after buying an additional 68,950 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MGP Ingredients in the 1st quarter worth $3,026,000. Institutional investors own 77.11% of the company’s stock.

MGP Ingredients Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MGP Ingredients stock opened at $83.25 on Tuesday. MGP Ingredients, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.86 and a 1-year high of $105.71. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 6.44 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.59.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $190.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.06 million. MGP Ingredients had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.18%. MGP Ingredients’s quarterly revenue was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MGP Ingredients, Inc. will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current year.

MGP Ingredients Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MGP Ingredients news, Director Karen Seaberg sold 1,109 shares of MGP Ingredients stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.14, for a total transaction of $99,965.26. Following the transaction, the director now owns 134,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,166,105.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 36.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MGPI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of MGP Ingredients in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of MGP Ingredients from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

MGP Ingredients Profile

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.