Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) Stock Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Ingles Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMKTA) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $81.60 and traded as high as $90.08. Ingles Markets shares last traded at $87.36, with a volume of 189,134 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IMKTA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Ingles Markets from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ingles Markets from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Ingles Markets presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Ingles Markets Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 3.34. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.91 and a beta of 0.60.

Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter. Ingles Markets had a net margin of 1.93% and a return on equity of 6.41%.

Ingles Markets Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Ingles Markets’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.02%.

Insider Transactions at Ingles Markets

In other news, Director Dwight L. Jacobs bought 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $88.07 per share, with a total value of $44,035.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 500 shares in the company, valued at $44,035. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 22.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ingles Markets

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in Ingles Markets by 24.5% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 188,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,144,000 after buying an additional 37,194 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in Ingles Markets by 157.5% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 37,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,565,000 after buying an additional 22,883 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Ingles Markets by 4.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 561,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,045,000 after buying an additional 24,406 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Ingles Markets by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 92,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,337,000 after buying an additional 13,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ingles Markets by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,300,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,124,000 after buying an additional 20,189 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.54% of the company’s stock.

About Ingles Markets

Ingles Markets, Inc (NASDAQ: IMKTA) is a family‐owned regional supermarket chain headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina. Since its founding in 1963 by Robert P. Ingle Sr., the company has grown to serve communities across the southeastern United States, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Alabama. Ingles Markets operates a full-service grocery platform, delivering a broad assortment of fresh produce, meat and seafood, bakery items, deli offerings and dairy products alongside pantry staples and household essentials.

In addition to traditional grocery departments, Ingles Markets provides in-store pharmacy services and fuel centers at many of its locations.