Analysts Set Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Target Price at $23.58

Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.58.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ACI shares. Melius raised Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Melius Research raised 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $27.25 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, October 11th.

Albertsons Companies Trading Up 1.1 %

ACI stock opened at $19.83 on Wednesday. Albertsons Companies has a twelve month low of $17.80 and a twelve month high of $23.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 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. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.50.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $18.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.47 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 49.50% and a net margin of 1.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Albertsons Companies will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. Albertsons Companies’s payout ratio is 28.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in Albertsons Companies by 88.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,841,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,887,688 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,063,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,229,000 after buying an additional 592,711 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,615,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,213,000 after buying an additional 141,933 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 22.8% in the third quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 8,546,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,946,000 after buying an additional 1,585,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 25.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,170,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239,978 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

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.