Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Albertsons Companies was downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting changing analyst sentiment towards the stock.
• Institutional investors hold a significant stake in Albertsons, with approximately 71.35% of the company's stock owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Despite the downgrade, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $23.94, highlighting mixed analyst views on the company's performance.

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Albertsons Companies in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Albertsons Companies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $25.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Zacks Research upgraded Albertsons Companies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Monday, July 21st. They set an "underweight" rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albertsons Companies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.94.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACI traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $19.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,274,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,061,415. Albertsons Companies has a fifty-two week low of $17.00 and a fifty-two week high of $23.20. The company has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.18. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $20.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.10.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $24.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $24.68 billion. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 37.92%. Albertsons Companies's revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Albertsons Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.030-2.160 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Friday, July 25th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 25th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Albertsons Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.59%.

Institutional Trading of Albertsons Companies

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. West Oak Capital LLC bought a new stake in Albertsons Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 98.4% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 340.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,919 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 1,483 shares during the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.