D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Purchases 27,531 Shares of Ingles Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMKTA)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ingles Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMKTA - Free Report) by 102.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,317 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,531 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.29% of Ingles Markets worth $3,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ingles Markets by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,234,699 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,564,000 after acquiring an additional 7,541 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ingles Markets by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 976,424 shares of the company's stock worth $62,921,000 after purchasing an additional 5,398 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its position in shares of Ingles Markets by 42.4% during the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 533,982 shares of the company's stock worth $34,410,000 after acquiring an additional 159,097 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ingles Markets by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 475,894 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,667,000 after purchasing an additional 47,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ingles Markets by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 453,558 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,227,000 after purchasing an additional 48,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ingles Markets from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th.

Ingles Markets Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of IMKTA traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $59.91. 101,903 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 121,642. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.08. Ingles Markets, Incorporated has a 52 week low of $58.92 and a 52 week high of $82.01. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 0.73.

Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ingles Markets had a return on equity of 5.09% and a net margin of 1.45%.

Ingles Markets Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Ingles Markets's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.25%.

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.