Apollo Management Holdings L.P. Buys 1,861,000 Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. $ACI

Key Points

• Apollo Management Holdings increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 174.1%, owning 2,930,000 shares valued at approximately $64.43 million, making it the firm's 10th largest holding.
• Albertsons Companies reported a quarterly EPS of $0.55, exceeding expectations, with a revenue of $24.88 billion for the period, indicating a 2.5% increase year-over-year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, yielding 3.1%, and has a reported dividend payout ratio of 36.59%.

Apollo Management Holdings L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) by 174.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,930,000 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,861,000 shares during the period. Albertsons Companies comprises approximately 1.2% of Apollo Management Holdings L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. owned approximately 0.51% of Albertsons Companies worth $64,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,374,669 shares of the company's stock valued at $821,869,000 after buying an additional 1,064,547 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP raised its position in Albertsons Companies by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 10,204,862 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657,981 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Albertsons Companies by 52.9% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 7,873,039 shares of the company's stock worth $173,128,000 after purchasing an additional 2,724,576 shares in the last quarter. Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN grew its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 108.0% during the 4th quarter. Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN now owns 5,766,719 shares of the company's stock worth $113,258,000 after purchasing an additional 2,993,988 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,462,715 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,102,000 after purchasing an additional 825,983 shares in the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They set an "underweight" rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Albertsons Companies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. UBS Group upgraded Albertsons Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (up from $23.00) on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albertsons Companies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $23.94.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

ACI stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $19.04. The stock had a trading volume of 4,586,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,000,216. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.00 and a twelve month high of $23.20. The company's 50-day moving average price is $20.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.07. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 25th. Albertsons Companies's payout ratio is 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.