Albertsons Companies, Inc. $ACI Shares Bought by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP has increased its stake in Albertsons Companies, owning 5,462,715 shares after acquiring an additional 825,983 shares, representing a 17.8% increase during the first quarter.
• Albertsons Companies reported a net margin of 1.18% and a revenue of $24.88 billion for the recent quarter, slightly above the consensus estimate of $24.68 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, which reflects a 3.1% annualized yield, paid to shareholders of record on July 25th.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) by 17.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,462,715 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 825,983 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.95% of Albertsons Companies worth $120,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies during the first quarter worth about $7,422,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 4.1% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 118,386 shares of the company's stock worth $2,598,000 after purchasing an additional 4,660 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies during the first quarter worth about $870,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies during the first quarter worth about $10,649,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 166.8% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,568,841 shares of the company's stock worth $56,489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605,993 shares in the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ACI. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Albertsons Companies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Albertsons Companies in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 target price (up previously from $23.00) on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $23.94.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

NYSE ACI traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $19.54. 7,267,816 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,428,713. The company has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.46. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.00 and a 12-month high of $23.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $20.49 and a 200 day moving average of $21.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $24.88 billion during 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $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 forecast that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 25th. Albertsons Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.59%.

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.