Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Acquires 4,101 Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 91.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,610 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,101 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $169,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ACI. FMR LLC increased its position in 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 during the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP increased its position in Albertsons Companies by 22.8% during the third quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 8,546,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,946,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585,899 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Albertsons Companies by 25.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,170,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239,978 shares during the last quarter. Trium Capital LLP bought a new position in Albertsons Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $23,678,000. Finally, Anson Funds Management LP increased its position in Albertsons Companies by 973.0% during the third quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 1,190,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079,246 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ACI. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup started 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. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.50.

Albertsons Companies Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:ACI opened at $21.12 on Friday. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.00 and a 1-year high of $21.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $20.46 and a 200 day moving average of $19.49. The firm has a market cap of $12.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.50. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $18.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.82 billion. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 44.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. This is a positive change from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.