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

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $24.36.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ACI shares. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $25.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 47,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.46, for a total value of $1,015,122.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 162,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,488,730.74. This trade represents a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Albertsons Companies by 225.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 959 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Albertsons Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 316.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,358 shares during the last quarter. WealthCollab LLC grew its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 446.0% during the 4th quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 1,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new position in Albertsons Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

Shares of ACI stock opened at $21.07 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.76 and a 200 day moving average of $20.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29. Albertsons Companies has a 52 week low of $17.00 and a 52 week high of $23.20.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.06. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 41.03% and a net margin of 1.19%. The firm had revenue of $18.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.59%.

About Albertsons Companies

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.