ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 7,042 Shares of MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of MGP Ingredients, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGPI) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 293,580 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,042 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 1.33% of MGP Ingredients worth $24,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Scout Investments Inc. increased its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Scout Investments Inc. now owns 85,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,325,000 after purchasing an additional 20,073 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $5,560,000 after purchasing an additional 45,527 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its holdings in MGP Ingredients by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 387,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,333,000 after purchasing an additional 68,950 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its stake in shares of MGP Ingredients by 41.9% in the 1st quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 50,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,329,000 after buying an additional 14,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MGP Ingredients by 107.9% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 25,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,911,000 after buying an additional 13,332 shares during the last quarter. 77.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded MGP Ingredients from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of MGP Ingredients in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on MGP Ingredients from $125.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at MGP Ingredients

In other MGP Ingredients news, Director Karen Seaberg sold 12,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.65, for a total transaction of $1,096,139.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 54,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,944,232.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 36.20% of the company’s stock.

MGP Ingredients Price Performance

MGP Ingredients stock opened at $80.43 on Thursday. MGP Ingredients, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.86 and a 12 month high of $103.04. The company has a current ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.30. The company has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.59.

MGP Ingredients (NASDAQ:MGPI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.17. MGP Ingredients had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The business had revenue of $190.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that MGP Ingredients, Inc. will post 6.25 EPS for the current year.

MGP Ingredients Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. MGP Ingredients’s payout ratio is 11.09%.

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.