GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. Sells 154,665 Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. $ACI

Key Points

• GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. sold 154,665 shares of Albertsons Companies, reducing its stake by 32.1%, which now represents 1.1% of its portfolio, valued at approximately $7.2 million.
• Albertsons Companies reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.55, exceeding analysts' expectations, and achieved revenue of $24.88 billion, marking a year-over-year increase of 2.5%.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15, which translates to an annualized dividend of $0.60 and a yield of 3.0%.

GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. trimmed its position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) by 32.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 327,605 shares of the company's stock after selling 154,665 shares during the period. Albertsons Companies accounts for approximately 1.1% of GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. owned 0.06% of Albertsons Companies worth $7,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,064,547 shares during the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 10,204,862 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657,981 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 52.9% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 7,873,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $173,128,000 after purchasing an additional 2,724,576 shares during the period. Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN increased its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 108.0% in the fourth quarter. Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN now owns 5,766,719 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,258,000 after purchasing an additional 2,993,988 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 17.8% in the first 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 during the period. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ACI. Barclays began coverage on Albertsons Companies in a report on Monday, July 21st. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upgraded Albertsons Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $27.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Albertsons Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Albertsons Companies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $25.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.94.

Albertsons Companies Trading Down 1.4%

Albertsons Companies stock traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $19.26. 4,132,823 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,416,061. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $20.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.14. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.00 and a twelve month high of $23.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.78 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.46.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 37.92% and a net margin of 1.18%.The firm had revenue of $24.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Albertsons Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.030-2.160 EPS. Research analysts predict that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 25th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Albertsons Companies's payout ratio is 36.59%.

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.