Ingles Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMKTA) Short Interest Up 6.9% in April

Ingles Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMKTA - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 315,000 shares, a growth of 6.9% from the April 15th total of 294,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 83,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sharp Laura Ingle sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $152,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,877,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $607,000. Corporate insiders own 23.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ingles Markets

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ingles Markets by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 735 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Ziegler Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ingles Markets by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Ziegler Capital Management LLC now owns 10,993 shares of the company's stock worth $949,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ingles Markets by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,183 shares of the company's stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ingles Markets by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,007 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,130,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Ingles Markets by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 31,700 shares of the company's stock worth $2,388,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. 62.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ingles Markets Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IMKTA traded up $3.06 on Thursday, hitting $77.30. 116,802 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 82,459. The company has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.36. Ingles Markets has a 52 week low of $69.62 and a 52 week high of $89.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 3.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Ingles Markets Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 11th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 10th. Ingles Markets's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on IMKTA. TheStreet cut Ingles Markets from a "b" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ingles Markets from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th.

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.