Versant Capital Management Inc Increases Stock Holdings in MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI)

Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) by 192.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 699 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in MGP Ingredients were worth $28,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of MGP Ingredients in the second quarter valued at about $22,028,000. Ariel Investments LLC boosted its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 92.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 515,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,375,000 after buying an additional 248,076 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in MGP Ingredients by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,102,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,824,000 after buying an additional 137,292 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of MGP Ingredients by 22.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 717,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,746,000 after acquiring an additional 131,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portolan Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MGP Ingredients in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,777,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lori L.S. Mingus sold 7,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.03, for a total transaction of $324,511.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,373 shares in the company, valued at $1,720,279.19. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 36.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MGPI has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on MGP Ingredients from $58.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of MGP Ingredients from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Lake Street Capital downgraded shares of MGP Ingredients from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of MGP Ingredients from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of MGP Ingredients from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.29.

MGP Ingredients Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MGPI opened at $36.57 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $44.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.47. MGP Ingredients, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.52 and a 1-year high of $95.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 6.46 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $802.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.60, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.65.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.02. MGP Ingredients had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 14.44%. The firm had revenue of $161.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that MGP Ingredients, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

MGP Ingredients Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. MGP Ingredients’s payout ratio is currently 9.98%.

MGP Ingredients Company 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.