Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 113,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,498,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV raised its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 47,232 shares of the company's stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 54.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,997 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061 shares during the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 40,476 shares of the company's stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 24,765 shares of the company's stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 316.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,358 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.35% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albertsons Companies news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 47,303 shares of Albertsons Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.46, for a total transaction of $1,015,122.38. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 162,569 shares in the company, valued at $3,488,730.74. The trade was a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

Albertsons Companies stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $20.47. The company had a trading volume of 3,177,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,094,771. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.00 and a 52 week high of $23.20. The company has a 50 day moving average of $21.71 and a 200-day moving average of $21.21. The firm has a market cap of $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.44.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 37.92%. The firm had revenue of $24.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 25th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. Albertsons Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ACI shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. 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. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Albertsons Companies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $25.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 price target (up previously from $23.00) on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.20.

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.