Baird Financial Group Inc. Has $3.12 Million Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 158,623 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,579 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $3,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Albertsons Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $298,302,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 55.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,150,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,596,000 after purchasing an additional 9,308,940 shares in the last quarter. Dendur Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,100,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,310,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,131,000 after buying an additional 2,347,875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candlestick Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,376,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ACI. Citigroup initiated coverage on Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.36.

Albertsons Companies Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of ACI stock opened at $22.48 on Friday. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.00 and a twelve month high of $23.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.36. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $12.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.59%.

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.