Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.75.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Melius upgraded shares of Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Albertsons Companies Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Albertsons Companies stock opened at $19.63 on Thursday. Albertsons Companies has a 1-year low of $17.00 and a 1-year high of $21.97. The company has a market capitalization of $11.37 billion, a PE ratio of 11.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.52 and a 200-day moving average of $19.33.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.07. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 44.70% and a net margin of 1.30%. The firm had revenue of $18.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Albertsons Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Albertsons Companies will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. This is an increase from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 26.97%.

Institutional Trading of Albertsons Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 88.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,841,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,887,688 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,063,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,229,000 after purchasing an additional 592,711 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,615,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,213,000 after purchasing an additional 141,933 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 22.8% during the third quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 8,546,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 25.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,170,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,033,000 after buying an additional 1,239,978 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.