Bleakley Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. $ACI

Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 780.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 156,109 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 138,381 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $3,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 1,601.1% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,729,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,807,000 after purchasing an additional 4,451,250 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies in the second quarter worth about $81,463,000. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 6,541.5% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 3,723,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,882,000 after acquiring an additional 3,667,550 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Albertsons Companies by 52.9% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 7,873,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,128,000 after acquiring an additional 2,724,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollo Management Holdings L.P. increased its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 174.1% during the 1st quarter. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. now owns 2,930,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,861,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective (up previously from $23.00) on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Albertsons Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Albertsons Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.50.

Insider Transactions at Albertsons Companies

In other news, insider Anuj Dhanda sold 230,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.25, for a total value of $4,427,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 300,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,786,107.25. This represents a 43.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael T. Theilmann sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.35, for a total value of $1,935,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 338,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,548,601.15. This represents a 22.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

NYSE ACI opened at $19.22 on Friday. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.70 and a 52-week high of $23.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $18.57 and a 200-day moving average of $20.35. The company has a market capitalization of $10.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 24th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Albertsons Companies’s payout ratio is 35.50%.

Albertsons Companies 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.