Brandes Investment Partners LP Purchases 159,097 Shares of Ingles Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMKTA)

Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its position in shares of Ingles Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMKTA) by 42.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 533,982 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 159,097 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned about 2.81% of Ingles Markets worth $34,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Ingles Markets in the fourth quarter worth $96,000. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Ingles Markets in the third quarter valued at about $203,000. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Ingles Markets in the third quarter valued at about $206,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ingles Markets in the third quarter valued at about $266,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Ingles Markets by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 62.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ingles Markets Stock Down 0.3 %

Ingles Markets stock opened at $61.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 0.71. Ingles Markets, Incorporated has a 12 month low of $58.92 and a 12 month high of $82.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 1.45.

Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter. Ingles Markets had a return on equity of 5.09% and a net margin of 1.45%.

Ingles Markets Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Ingles Markets’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Ingles Markets from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th.

Ingles Markets 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.