Retirement Systems of Alabama Purchases Shares of 1,008,213 Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Retirement Systems of Alabama bought a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,008,213 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,171,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.17% of Albertsons Companies as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 225.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 959 shares during the period. WealthCollab LLC increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 446.0% during the 4th quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 1,780 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,454 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 316.6% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,358 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 340.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,919 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,483 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 54.8% during 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ACI. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Albertsons Companies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. 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.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albertsons Companies

In other Albertsons Companies news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 47,303 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 now directly owns 162,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,488,730.74. The trade was a 22.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company's stock.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

NYSE:ACI traded down $0.42 on Wednesday, hitting $21.27. The company had a trading volume of 4,822,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,832,476. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.00 and a 52 week high of $23.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $21.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.96.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.06. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.19% and a return on equity of 41.03%. The company had revenue of $18.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Albertsons Companies's payout ratio is presently 36.59%.

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.