Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.21.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised Albertsons Companies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th.

Insider Activity at Albertsons Companies

In other Albertsons Companies news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 47,303 shares of Albertsons Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.46, for a total value of $1,015,122.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 162,569 shares in the company, valued at $3,488,730.74. The trade was a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.35% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Albertsons Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,800,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Albertsons Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $243,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Albertsons Companies in the first quarter valued at about $1,420,000. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in Albertsons Companies in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, III Capital Management purchased a new position in Albertsons Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,892,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.35% of the company's stock.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACI traded down $0.16 during trading on Thursday, hitting $22.13. 4,407,682 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,969,747. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Albertsons Companies has a 52-week low of $17.00 and a 52-week high of $23.20. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $21.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.20. The company has a market cap of $12.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.49, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.44.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $18.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.78 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 41.03% and a net margin of 1.19%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Albertsons Companies will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Albertsons Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.