Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Reduces Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. trimmed its position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) by 44.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,166,437 shares of the company's stock after selling 935,978 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.20% of Albertsons Companies worth $22,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ACI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Albertsons Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $298,302,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 55.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,150,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $513,596,000 after buying an additional 9,308,940 shares during the last quarter. Dendur Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $49,100,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,310,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $713,131,000 after buying an additional 2,347,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,465,449 shares of the company's stock valued at $146,621,000 after buying an additional 1,294,848 shares during the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $23.38.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Shares of ACI traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $22.02. 1,776,857 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,408,802. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.00 and a 1-year high of $23.20. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $21.40 and a 200-day moving average of $20.18. The stock has a market cap of $12.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.47.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.06. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 44.70%. The firm had revenue of $18.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. Analysts expect that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 25th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Albertsons Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.59%.

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.