Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Short Interest Update

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,820,000 shares, a drop of 7.9% from the June 30th total of 13,920,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,330,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.5 days. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on ACI. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $27.25 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI cut 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 report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price 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. Roth Capital raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.45.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

NYSE ACI traded down $0.07 on Thursday, hitting $19.76. The company had a trading volume of 1,607,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,917,844. The company has a market capitalization of $11.44 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Albertsons Companies has a 12-month low of $19.33 and a 12-month high of $23.88.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.01). Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 56.01% and a net margin of 1.41%. The business had revenue of $24.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Albertsons Companies will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,160,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,951,000 after acquiring an additional 335,783 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $312,510,000. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,078,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,881,000 after acquiring an additional 85,707 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 4,401,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,233,000 after acquiring an additional 133,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segantii Capital Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 23.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

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.