Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.58.

Several analysts have recently commented on ACI shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $27.25 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Melius raised Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 88.1% in 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Albertsons Companies by 7.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,063,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,229,000 after acquiring an additional 592,711 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Albertsons Companies by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,615,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,213,000 after acquiring an additional 141,933 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 22.8% in the third quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 8,546,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,946,000 after acquiring 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 third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,170,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239,978 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Albertsons Companies Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE ACI opened at $19.54 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.51. Albertsons Companies has a one year low of $17.80 and a one year high of $23.47. The firm has a market cap of $11.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 49.50% and a net margin of 1.25%. The business had revenue of $18.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Albertsons Companies will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. Albertsons Companies’s payout ratio is 28.07%.

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.