Albertsons Companies Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:ACI)

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 9,776 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 97% compared to the typical volume of 4,965 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Albertsons Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $298,302,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 9,308,940 shares during the last quarter. Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN boosted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 108.0% in the 4th quarter. Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN now owns 5,766,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,258,000 after purchasing an additional 2,993,988 shares in the last quarter. Dendur Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,100,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 2,347,875 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ACI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price 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. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, April 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.93.

Albertsons Companies Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:ACI opened at $22.01 on Friday. 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 has a 12-month low of $17.00 and a 12-month high of $23.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.47.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $18.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend 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.