Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

Ingles Markets Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of IMKTA opened at $73.47 on Wednesday. Ingles Markets has a fifty-two week low of $67.10 and a fifty-two week high of $89.59. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.37 and a 200 day moving average of $73.54. The firm has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.93 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.99.

Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter. Ingles Markets had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter.

Ingles Markets Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Ingles Markets’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sharp Laura Ingle sold 4,799 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.38, for a total value of $337,753.62. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $415,312.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 16,700 shares of company stock worth $1,160,640 over the last ninety days. 23.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ingles Markets

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Ingles Markets by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 735 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ingles Markets by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 55,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,818,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Ingles Markets by 240.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Ingles Markets by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Ingles Markets by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 3,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.54% of the company’s stock.

Ingles Markets Company Profile

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.