Amalgamated Bank Buys 164,462 Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) by 747.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 186,464 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 164,462 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank's holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $4,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,358 shares during the period. WealthCollab LLC raised its stake in Albertsons Companies by 446.0% during the fourth quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 1,780 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,454 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies during the first quarter valued at $40,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 340.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,919 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 54.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,997 shares of the company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares during the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ACI. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Albertsons Companies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 47,303 shares of Albertsons Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.46, for a total value of $1,015,122.38. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 162,569 shares in the company, valued at $3,488,730.74. This trade represents 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. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Albertsons Companies Stock Down 0.3%

ACI traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.93. The company had a trading volume of 2,715,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,893,041. The company has a market capitalization of $12.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.37, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $17.00 and a one year high of $23.20. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $21.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.06.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $18.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 expect that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. Albertsons Companies's payout ratio is 36.59%.

Albertsons Companies 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.