First Eagle Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. (NYSE:NGVC)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. (NYSE:NGVC) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,637 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned 0.38% of Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage worth $3,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage by 64.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 449,007 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $13,331,000 after purchasing an additional 176,361 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 219,301 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,513,000 after purchasing an additional 22,413 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 193,350 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,983 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 54,115 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 12,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 53,904 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,141,000 after purchasing an additional 7,384 shares during the last quarter. 31.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NGVC stock opened at $36.53 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $42.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.52. Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.82 and a 1-year high of $50.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $837.58 million, a PE ratio of 23.26 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NYSE:NGVC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The specialty retailer reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter. Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage had a return on equity of 21.12% and a net margin of 2.84%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th.

About Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, retails natural and organic groceries, and dietary supplements in the United States. The company’s stores offer natural and organic grocery products, such as organic produce; private label repackaged bulk products, including dried fruits, nuts, grains, granolas, teas, herbs, and spices, as well as peanut and almond butters; private label products comprising grocery staples, household products, bulk foods, and vitamins and dietary supplements, as well as organic eggs, organic flavored coffee, and organic mustard; dry, frozen, and canned groceries; meat and seafood products; dairy products, dairy substitutes, and eggs; prepared foods; bread and baked products; beverages; and beer, wine, and hard cider products.