Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Buys New Holdings in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 13,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 55.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,150,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $513,596,000 after buying an additional 9,308,940 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Albertsons Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $298,302,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,294,848 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.35% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albertsons Companies

In other news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 47,303 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.46, for a total value of $1,015,122.38. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company's stock.

Albertsons Companies Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:ACI traded down $0.09 on Wednesday, hitting $21.89. 341,836 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,583,952. The company has a market cap of $12.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.53. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.00 and a 52 week high of $23.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31.

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

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. Albertsons Companies's payout ratio is currently 36.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ACI. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Albertsons Companies currently has an average 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.