Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) Stock

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) had its price target lifted by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $22.00 to $23.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.92% from the company’s previous close.

ACI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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 reduced 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. Bank of America started coverage on Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.50.

Albertsons Companies Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ACI opened at $21.12 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $12.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.50. 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 has a 12-month low of $17.00 and a 12-month high of $21.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.50.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $18.77 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,310,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,131,000 after acquiring an additional 2,347,875 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 55.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,150,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,596,000 after buying an additional 9,308,940 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $298,302,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP lifted its position in Albertsons Companies by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 10,204,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657,981 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Albertsons Companies by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,491,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,211,000 after purchasing an additional 428,506 shares during the period. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.