Brokerages Set Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Target Price at $24.45

Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.45.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ACI. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $27.25 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Roth Mkm raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Roth Capital raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

NYSE ACI opened at $19.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.91, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.29 and a 200-day moving average of $21.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. Albertsons Companies has a 1-year low of $19.47 and a 1-year high of $23.88.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. The company had revenue of $18.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.40 billion. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.64% and a return on equity of 68.02%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albertsons Companies will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albertsons Companies news, CAO Robert Bruce Larson sold 24,362 shares of Albertsons Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.24, for a total transaction of $493,086.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 50,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,016,877.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Albertsons Companies news, CAO Robert Bruce Larson sold 24,362 shares of Albertsons Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.24, for a total transaction of $493,086.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 50,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,016,877.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anuj Dhanda sold 100,000 shares of Albertsons Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.35, for a total transaction of $2,035,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 365,297 shares in the company, valued at $7,433,793.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,160,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $710,951,000 after purchasing an additional 335,783 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies during the fourth quarter worth $312,510,000. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.7% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,078,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,881,000 after purchasing an additional 85,707 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 4,401,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,233,000 after purchasing an additional 133,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segantii Capital Management Ltd lifted its position in Albertsons Companies by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Segantii Capital Management Ltd now owns 4,125,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,880,000 after acquiring an additional 790,207 shares in the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.