UBS Group Has Lowered Expectations for Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) Stock Price

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) had its price objective decreased by UBS Group from $27.00 to $24.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Telsey Advisory Group raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Melius Research upgraded shares of Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Melius raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.75.

Albertsons Companies Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of ACI stock opened at $19.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.35, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.51. Albertsons Companies has a 1-year low of $17.00 and a 1-year high of $23.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.36.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 49.50% and a net margin of 1.25%. The business had revenue of $18.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ACI. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 88.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,841,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,887,688 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,063,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,229,000 after buying an additional 592,711 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.7% during 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 during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 22.8% in the third quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 8,546,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,946,000 after buying an additional 1,585,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,170,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239,978 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

About Albertsons Companies

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.