Block & Leviton LLP, a national securities litigation firm, announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against MGP Ingredients, Inc. and certain of its officers for securities fraud. The lead plaintiff deadline is April 28, 2020. Investors who purchased MGP shares between February 27, 2019 and February 25, 2020 (the “Class Period”) should contact Block & Leviton for a free case evaluation.
MGP produces and supplies premium distilled spirits, including bourbon, rye whiskeys, and grain neutral spirits, like vodka and gin. Beginning in 2015, instead of selling its whiskey as an unaged new distillate, to be barreled and aged by its customers, MGP began storing large amounts of barreled distillate itself that it could later sell as aged whiskey. After four years of aging, MGP was supposed to be able to sell the aged product at three times what it was selling the unaged whiskey at.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, alleges that during the Class Period, MGP issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) MGP had not completed any significant sales of its four-year-old, aged whiskey inventory; (2) the Company had been unable to sell its aged whiskey at the premium price represented to investors; (3) a glut of aged whiskey inventory and shifts in consumer behavior had lowered the value of MGP’s aged whiskey inventory and materially impaired its ability to negotiate significant sales on favorable contract terms; and (4) as a result, MGP’s 2019 financial forecast lacked a reasonable basis and was materially misleading.
The truth came to light over time, and on February 26, 2020, MGP announced its final full year 2019 financial results, confirming that it had fallen “significantly short of . . . guidance” due to its failure to sell aged whiskey during the fourth quarter of 2019. On this news, the price of MGP declined to just $28.42 per share, down from the Class Period high of $88.06. This represents a 67% decline.
If you purchased or acquired shares of MGP common stock and have questions about your legal rights or possess information relevant to this matter, please contact Block & Leviton attorneys at (617) 398-5600, via email at jake@blockesq.com, or at https://shareholder.law/mgp. MGP investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares of MGP common stock during the Class Period may, no later than April 28, 2020, seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the Class.
Block & Leviton LLP is a firm dedicated to representing investors and maintaining the integrity of the country’s financial markets. The firm represents many of the nation’s largest institutional investors as well as individual investors in securities litigation throughout the United States. The firm’s lawyers have recovered billions of dollars for its clients.
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