Stifel Financial Corp Invests $426,000 in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 21,672 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $426,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $298,302,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 9,308,940 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Albertsons Companies by 6.9% during 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Albertsons Companies by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,465,449 shares of the company's stock worth $146,621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,294,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trium Capital LLP purchased a new position in Albertsons Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $23,678,000. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.36.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

NYSE:ACI traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.10. 4,788,436 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,580,390. The company has a market capitalization of $12.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $17.00 and a one year high of $23.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $21.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.44.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. Albertsons Companies's payout ratio is 36.59%.

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.