State of Wyoming Purchases Shares of 20,276 Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 20,276 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $398,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 2,347,875 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 9,308,940 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $298,302,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 10,204,862 shares of the company's stock worth $200,423,000 after buying an additional 1,657,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 428,506 shares during the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Shares of ACI traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.12. The company had a trading volume of 2,334,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,615,238. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $21.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.59. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.00 and a 1-year high of $23.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors 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 2.71%. Albertsons Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.59%.

Insider Activity at Albertsons Companies

In related news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 47,303 shares of the firm'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 value of $1,015,122.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 162,569 shares in the company, valued at $3,488,730.74. This trade represents a 22.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ACI shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Albertsons Companies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $25.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI decreased 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 report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.36.

About Albertsons Companies

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.