Polaris Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Ingles Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMKTA)

Polaris Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ingles Markets, Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMKTA - Free Report) by 24.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,800 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC owned 0.17% of Ingles Markets worth $2,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in IMKTA. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ingles Markets by 7.1% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 971,026 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,439,000 after buying an additional 64,296 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ingles Markets by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 405,558 shares of the company's stock worth $30,255,000 after purchasing an additional 31,027 shares in the last quarter. Factorial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ingles Markets during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,895,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in Ingles Markets by 346.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 23,689 shares of the company's stock worth $1,768,000 after purchasing an additional 18,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Ingles Markets by 49.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 54,652 shares of the company's stock worth $4,077,000 after purchasing an additional 18,141 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut Ingles Markets from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday.

Ingles Markets Price Performance

Ingles Markets stock traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $65.38. 56,847 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 111,126. The company has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78 and a beta of 0.75. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $65.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.83. Ingles Markets, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $59.73 and a 1 year high of $82.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.89.

Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Ingles Markets had a return on equity of 5.11% and a net margin of 1.45%.

Ingles Markets Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Ingles Markets's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.94%.

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.