California State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Stock Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 455,050 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,528 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.08% of Albertsons Companies worth $8,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Albertsons Companies by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,310,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $713,131,000 after buying an additional 2,347,875 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 55.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,150,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $513,596,000 after acquiring an additional 9,308,940 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $298,302,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP raised its holdings 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 worth $200,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Albertsons Companies by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,491,772 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,211,000 after purchasing an additional 428,506 shares during the period. 71.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albertsons Companies Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of ACI traded down $0.41 on Tuesday, hitting $21.61. 4,910,715 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,189,153. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.00 and a 1 year high of $23.20. The stock's 50 day moving average is $21.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $18.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.78 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 44.70% and a net margin of 1.30%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. Albertsons Companies's payout ratio is 36.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albertsons Companies news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 47,303 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.46, for a total transaction of $1,015,122.38. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 162,569 shares in the company, valued at $3,488,730.74. This represents a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Albertsons Companies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, April 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.36.

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.