Truist Financial Corp Takes Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Truist Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 116,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,288,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Albertsons Companies by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,196,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,138,000 after buying an additional 43,532 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Albertsons Companies by 9.2% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,117,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,646,000 after buying an additional 94,300 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Albertsons Companies by 5.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 670,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,395,000 after buying an additional 36,154 shares in the last quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. raised its stake in Albertsons Companies by 68.4% in the third quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. now owns 270,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,999,000 after buying an additional 109,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in Albertsons Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $1,906,000. Institutional investors own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ACI. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Albertsons Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.21.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Shares of ACI opened at $20.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.45. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.00 and a 1-year high of $21.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $18.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.82 billion. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 44.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. This is an increase from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 33.71%.

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.