Ingles Markets, Incorporated (IMKTA) AI Stock Analysis

Ingles Markets, Incorporated is a supermarket chain serving the southeastern United States. Founded in 1963 and based in Asheville, North Carolina, it operates retail stores under the Ingles and Sav-Mor banners. Offerings include groceries, meat, dairy, fresh produce, frozen foods, fuel centers, pharmacies, and health and beauty items. The company features private label selections alongside home meal replacements, delis, and bakeries. Ingles Markets also operates a vertically integrated milk processing and packaging facility that supplies organic milk, fruit juices, and bottled water to external retailers, food service distributors, and warehouses.

Revenue expanded from $4.99B in FY2021 to a peak of $5.89B in FY2023 before contracting 4.3% to $5.64B in FY2024 and 5.4% to $5.33B in FY2025. Operating margins compressed from 7.0% in FY2021 to 2.2% in FY2025, while net income fell from $249.7M to $83.6M over the same period, bringing EPS from $12.05 down to $4.43. Free cash flow decreased from $165.7M in FY2021 to $39.6M in FY2025. In the latest quarter ended June 30, 2026, quarterly revenue grew 1.6% year-over-year, while quarterly earnings declined 1.4% year-over-year. TTM revenue stands at $5.42B with an operating margin of 2.1%.

As of June 30, 2026, Ingles Markets held $455.1M in cash and short-term investments against total debt of $526.6M, leaving net debt at $71.5M. Liquidity is supported by a current ratio of 3.21 and a conservative debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31 on shareholders' equity of $1.68B. In FY2025, operating cash flow was $154.1M, covering capital expenditures of $114.5M and dividends paid of $12.3M. The five-year change in share count was 0.3%.

IMKTA trades at a trailing P/E of 15.8x and a forward P/E of 8.6x, both below the median of its US-listed Consumer Defensive peers at 18.6x and 14.3x, respectively. Its enterprise value to EBITDA ratio is 6.0x compared to the peer median of 11.7x, and its price-to-sales ratio is 0.3x versus 0.7x for peers. Over the past year, IMKTA returned 18.6%, outperforming the S&P 500 benchmark return of 16.8%. However, its five-year return of 34.5% trails the S&P 500 gain of 83.0%.

Ingles Markets pays a quarterly dividend of $0.66 annualized, generating a dividend yield of 0.76%. The payout ratio is 12.2%, supported by 40 consecutive years of dividend payments. However, the five-year annualized dividend growth is 0.0%. The most recent ex-dividend date was October 8, 2026.

Ingles Markets achieved an earnings track record of beating EPS estimates in 3 of the last 4 quarters. There are no published analyst rating counts or consensus price targets available for the stock. Investors can monitor the company's financial progress when it reports its next earnings on November 25, 2026. The stock closed at $86.45 on October 16, 2026.

This page is an AI-written research summary of Ingles Markets, Incorporated (IMKTA). The text was generated on October 30, 2026 from Quotelinks data as of October 16, 2026 (company profile, annual results, latest balance sheet, valuation, price performance and analyst estimates). An automatic check rejects any draft that contains a figure not found in that data. It is not investment advice; verify figures on the linked tabs before making decisions.

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