Pecaut & CO. Takes Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Pecaut & CO. bought a new position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 30,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $597,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 47,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 13,328 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $568,000 after buying an additional 4,970 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 149,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,945,000 after buying an additional 22,603 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 3,166.7% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 39,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $770,000 after buying an additional 38,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 913.8% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 340,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,692,000 after buying an additional 307,102 shares in the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albertsons Companies Trading Down 1.7 %

ACI opened at $21.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.54. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $17.00 and a one year high of $22.05. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $18.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.82 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 44.70% and a net margin of 1.30%. Albertsons Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Albertsons Companies’s payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ACI. Citigroup began coverage on Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.50.

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.