Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) Hits New 1-Year Low at $72.72

Ingles Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMKTA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $72.72 and last traded at $73.27, with a volume of 60504 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $73.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on IMKTA shares. TheStreet downgraded Ingles Markets from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Ingles Markets from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th.

Ingles Markets Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $76.06 and a 200-day moving average of $80.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 3.22.

Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ingles Markets had a return on equity of 12.92% and a net margin of 3.14%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter.

Ingles Markets Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 10th. Ingles Markets’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.79%.

Insider Transactions at Ingles Markets

In other news, Director Sharp Laura Ingle sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $152,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,877,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $607,000 in the last quarter. 23.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ingles Markets

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its position in Ingles Markets by 1.6% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 821,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,868,000 after purchasing an additional 12,850 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Ingles Markets in the third quarter valued at about $1,382,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in Ingles Markets by 1.7% in the third quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 542,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,898,000 after purchasing an additional 9,030 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Ingles Markets by 9.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 257,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,424,000 after purchasing an additional 22,400 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Ingles Markets by 12.3% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.