Short Interest in Ingles Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMKTA) Drops By 8.0%

Ingles Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMKTA) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 588,400 shares, a decline of 8.0% from the October 15th total of 639,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 140,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Ingles Markets from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 21st.

Ingles Markets Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IMKTA opened at $69.83 on Tuesday. Ingles Markets has a fifty-two week low of $59.73 and a fifty-two week high of $89.59. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.31 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 2.99 and a quick ratio of 1.49.

Ingles Markets Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Ingles Markets’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ingles Markets

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IMKTA. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ingles Markets by 3,487.5% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,511 shares during the last quarter. Cynosure Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ingles Markets during the 1st quarter worth about $312,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in shares of Ingles Markets by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 550,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,220,000 after purchasing an additional 6,475 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA acquired a new position in shares of Ingles Markets during the 1st quarter worth about $267,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Ingles Markets by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 912 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.54% of the company’s stock.

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.