Insider Selling: MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) Director Sells $872,329.28 in Stock

MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) Director Karen Seaberg sold 28,304 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.82, for a total value of $872,329.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 283,569 shares in the company, valued at $8,739,596.58. This represents a 9.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Karen Seaberg also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, March 11th, Karen Seaberg bought 5,348 shares of MGP Ingredients stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.59 per share, for a total transaction of $174,291.32.

MGP Ingredients Stock Performance

MGP Ingredients stock opened at $30.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $656.60 million, a P/E ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $34.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.98. MGP Ingredients, Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.84 and a 52 week high of $92.52. The company has a current ratio of 6.46, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. MGP Ingredients’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MGPI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Lake Street Capital upgraded MGP Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com downgraded MGP Ingredients from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on MGP Ingredients from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on MGP Ingredients from $58.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MGP Ingredients

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in MGP Ingredients by 201.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 64,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,388,000 after acquiring an additional 43,233 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in MGP Ingredients during the third quarter worth about $1,010,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in MGP Ingredients during the fourth quarter worth about $335,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in MGP Ingredients by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 68,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,702,000 after acquiring an additional 1,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in MGP Ingredients by 28.2% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083 shares during the last quarter. 77.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.