The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Grows Stock Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) by 186.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,984 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,161 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company's holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ACI. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Albertsons Companies by 225.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 959 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 316.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,787 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,358 shares during the period. Ossiam acquired a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $93,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 91.0% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,610 shares of the company's stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 4,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $179,000. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised Albertsons Companies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Finally, 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albertsons Companies news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 47,303 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

Shares of ACI stock traded down $0.30 on Monday, reaching $21.80. The stock had a trading volume of 4,122,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,594,600. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.00 and a 1 year high of $23.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.50. 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 stock has a market cap of $12.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 25th. Albertsons Companies's dividend 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.