Man Group plc Takes $3.97 Million Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Man Group plc purchased a new position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 201,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,967,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,310,122 shares of the company's stock worth $713,131,000 after acquiring an additional 2,347,875 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 55.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,150,522 shares of the company's stock worth $513,596,000 after acquiring an additional 9,308,940 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies during the fourth quarter worth $298,302,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,491,772 shares of the company's stock worth $186,211,000 after acquiring an additional 428,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,465,449 shares of the company's stock worth $146,621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294,848 shares during the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albertsons Companies news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 47,303 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACI has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Albertsons Companies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.36.

Albertsons Companies Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE ACI traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.19. The company had a trading volume of 4,880,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,629,642. The business's 50-day moving average is $21.76 and its 200-day moving average is $20.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. The stock has a market cap of $12.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.47. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.00 and a 52 week high of $23.20.

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

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. 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.