Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 20.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,476 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,487 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 88.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,841,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,232,000 after buying an additional 7,887,688 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,063,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,229,000 after buying an additional 592,711 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,615,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,213,000 after buying an additional 141,933 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 8,546,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,946,000 after buying an additional 1,585,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,170,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,033,000 after buying an additional 1,239,978 shares in the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

NYSE ACI opened at $21.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $20.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.48. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.00 and a 52-week high of $21.67. The company has a market cap of $12.43 billion, a PE ratio of 12.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.50.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 44.70%. The firm had revenue of $18.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. 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%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ACI shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albertsons Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.21.

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.