Private Advisor Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,010 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 544 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Albertsons Companies by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,160,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,951,000 after buying an additional 335,783 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,078,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,881,000 after acquiring an additional 85,707 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,923,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,236,000 after purchasing an additional 362,813 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Albertsons Companies by 25.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,624,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,337,000 after buying an additional 924,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 38.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,426,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,669,000 after purchasing an additional 956,744 shares during the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

ACI stock opened at $19.34 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.62. The company has a market capitalization of $11.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.80 and a fifty-two week high of $23.47.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 49.50% and a net margin of 1.25%. The company had revenue of $18.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 28th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ACI. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $27.25 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Melius upgraded Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Melius Research upgraded Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.58.

Albertsons Companies Company 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.