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

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $24.45.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ACI. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $27.25 price target 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 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded shares of Albertsons Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Insider Activity at Albertsons Companies

In other Albertsons Companies news, CAO Robert Bruce Larson sold 24,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 50,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,016,877.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Robert Bruce Larson sold 24,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anuj Dhanda sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 365,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,433,793.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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 stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Albertsons Companies by 24.9% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 605,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,766,000 after buying an additional 120,687 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 32.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,096,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,704,000 after buying an additional 508,165 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 182,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,162,000 after buying an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies in the third quarter worth about $3,908,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1,247.8% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 343,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,820,000 after buying an additional 318,245 shares in the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

ACI opened at $19.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.50. Albertsons Companies has a fifty-two week low of $19.47 and a fifty-two week high of $23.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $20.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.51. The business had revenue of $18.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.40 billion. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.64% and a return on equity of 68.02%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Albertsons Companies will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.52%.

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.