Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Takes Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 91,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,012,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 6.9% in the 4th 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 period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Albertsons Companies by 55.3% in the fourth 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 during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Albertsons Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $298,302,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 10,204,862 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657,981 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 4.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.35% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Albertsons Companies

In other news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 47,303 shares of Albertsons Companies 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 162,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,488,730.74. This trade represents a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ACI shares. Barclays assumed coverage on Albertsons Companies in a report on Monday. They set an "underweight" rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $24.00 price target (up previously from $23.00) on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised Albertsons Companies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Albertsons Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albertsons Companies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.06.

Albertsons Companies Stock Down 1.2%

ACI traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $20.56. 5,045,604 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,710,328. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.44. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $21.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.24. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $17.00 and a one year high of $23.20.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $24.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. Albertsons Companies's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Friday, July 25th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 25th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Albertsons Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.