Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.36.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, April 11th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased their target price on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albertsons Companies

In other news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 47,303 shares of Albertsons Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.46, for a total transaction of $1,015,122.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 162,569 shares in the company, valued at $3,488,730.74. This trade represents a 22.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ACI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $298,302,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 55.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,150,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,596,000 after buying an additional 9,308,940 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 1,601.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,729,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,807,000 after acquiring an additional 4,451,250 shares during the period. Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 108.0% in the fourth quarter. Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN now owns 5,766,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,258,000 after acquiring an additional 2,993,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 52.9% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 7,873,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,128,000 after acquiring an additional 2,724,576 shares during the period. 71.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albertsons Companies Stock Up 1.3%

ACI opened at $22.12 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.61. Albertsons Companies has a 52 week low of $17.00 and a 52 week high of $23.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. The stock has a market cap of $12.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.47.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $18.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 44.70%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.59%.

Albertsons Companies Company Profile

Albertsons Companies, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of food and drug stores in the United States. The company’s food and drug retail stores offer grocery products, general merchandise, health and beauty care products, pharmacy, fuel, and other items and services. It also manufactures and processes food products for sale in stores.