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

Ingles Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMKTA) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in 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 days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Ingles Markets Stock Down 1.9 %

IMKTA stock opened at $63.07 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $68.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.81. The company has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 0.76. Ingles Markets has a twelve month low of $59.73 and a twelve month high of $86.16.

Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 27th. The company reported ($0.08) earnings per share 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Ingles Markets’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IMKTA. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ingles Markets by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ingles Markets by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Ingles Markets during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $69,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ingles Markets by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 3,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ingles Markets by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 376,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 62.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.