Albertsons Companies’ (ACI) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Telsey Advisory Group

Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $26.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on ACI. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group cut their target price on Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albertsons Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.43.

Albertsons Companies Stock Up 1.5 %

Albertsons Companies stock opened at $21.47 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, a PE ratio of 12.06, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.50. Albertsons Companies has a 12-month low of $17.00 and a 12-month high of $21.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.38 and its 200 day moving average is $19.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.07. The firm 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 business’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Albertsons Companies will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,310,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,131,000 after purchasing an additional 2,347,875 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 55.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,150,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $513,596,000 after buying an additional 9,308,940 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies during the 4th quarter worth $298,302,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 10,204,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,491,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,211,000 after acquiring an additional 428,506 shares during the last quarter. 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.