Albertsons Companies Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:ACI)

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 12,447 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 335% compared to the average volume of 2,860 call options.

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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.35% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Albertsons Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. WealthCollab LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 446.0% during the 4th quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 1,780 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,454 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 316.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,358 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 1,483 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.35% of the company's stock.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

NYSE ACI traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $22.28. The company had a trading volume of 4,673,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,942,678. Albertsons Companies has a 52 week low of $17.00 and a 52 week high of $23.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, 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. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 41.03% and a net margin of 1.19%. The firm had revenue of $18.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Albertsons Companies's payout ratio is currently 36.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ACI shares. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $31.00 price target on Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.21.

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.