12,413 Shares in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Bought by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 108.4% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 225.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 959 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 91.0% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 4,101 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Albertsons Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $179,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 204.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 10,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 7,209 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

NYSE:ACI opened at $21.12 on Friday. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.00 and a 52 week high of $21.67. The firm has a market cap of $12.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $18.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. Albertsons Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albertsons Companies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.50.

Albertsons Companies 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.