Picton Mahoney Asset Management Purchases New Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Key Points

• Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Albertsons Companies, acquiring 53,987 shares valued at approximately $1,186,000 during the first quarter.
• Several analysts have recently revised their ratings on Albertsons, with the stock currently holding a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.06.
• Albertsons announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, which will be paid to stockholders of record, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.08%.

Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 53,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,186,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Albertsons Companies by 55.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,150,522 shares of the company's stock worth $513,596,000 after purchasing an additional 9,308,940 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,657,981 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 428,506 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,465,449 shares of the company's stock valued at $146,621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,993,988 shares during the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Albertsons Companies news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 47,303 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.46, for a total value of $1,015,122.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 162,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,488,730.74. The trade was a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.35% of the company's stock.

Albertsons Companies Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of ACI stock traded up $0.40 on Friday, hitting $19.62. 5,468,130 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,114,485. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 0.82. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $17.00 and a one year high of $23.20. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $21.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 37.92%. The company had revenue of $24.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 25th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Albertsons Companies's payout ratio is presently 36.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ACI. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $24.00 target price (up from $23.00) on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Albertsons Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Albertsons Companies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.06.

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.