Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Purchases Shares of 78,619 MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC bought a new position in MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 78,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,545,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned about 0.36% of MGP Ingredients as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MGPI. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in MGP Ingredients by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,366,906 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,732,000 after purchasing an additional 276,675 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in MGP Ingredients by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,135,093 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,766,000 after buying an additional 8,770 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 9.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 790,339 shares of the company's stock worth $58,801,000 after buying an additional 68,278 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC increased its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 92.7% during the second 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. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in MGP Ingredients by 18.6% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 490,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,838,000 after acquiring an additional 76,835 shares during the last quarter. 77.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MGPI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MGP Ingredients from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on MGP Ingredients from $92.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on MGP Ingredients from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Loop Capital set a $75.00 price target on MGP Ingredients in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Lake Street Capital cut MGP Ingredients from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.60.

Insider Transactions at MGP Ingredients

In related news, Director Karen Seaberg sold 1,109 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.14, for a total transaction of $99,965.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 134,969 shares in the company, valued at $12,166,105.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 36.20% of the company's stock.

MGP Ingredients Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MGPI traded down $2.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $45.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,024,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 232,156. The company has a current ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. MGP Ingredients, Inc. has a 1 year low of $45.48 and a 1 year high of $102.42. The company has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $78.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.64.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $161.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $161.55 million. MGP Ingredients had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.18%. The company's revenue was down 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MGP Ingredients, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

MGP Ingredients Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. MGP Ingredients's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.98%.

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.