Short Interest in Ingles Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMKTA) Increases By 7.6%

Ingles Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMKTA) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 727,200 shares, an increase of 7.6% from the December 15th total of 675,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 140,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Ingles Markets Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Ingles Markets stock traded down $1.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $63.07. The company had a trading volume of 103,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 123,748. The company has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $68.23 and its 200-day moving average is $69.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.89. Ingles Markets has a fifty-two week low of $59.73 and a fifty-two week high of $86.16.

Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, December 27th. The company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ingles Markets had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 6.90%.

Ingles Markets Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. Ingles Markets’s payout ratio is presently 11.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ingles Markets from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its position in Ingles Markets by 111.0% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 196,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,480,000 after buying an additional 103,507 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its stake in Ingles Markets by 103.1% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 181,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,457,000 after purchasing an additional 92,164 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Ingles Markets by 7.1% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 971,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,439,000 after purchasing an additional 64,296 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Ingles Markets by 8.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 405,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,255,000 after purchasing an additional 31,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Factorial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ingles Markets in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,895,000. 62.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ingles Markets

Ingles Markets, Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, operates a chain of supermarkets in the southeast United States. It offers food products, including grocery, meat and dairy products, produce, frozen foods, and other perishables; and non-food products, which include fuel centers, pharmacies, health and beauty care products, and general merchandise, as well as private label items.