Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $24.06.

A number of brokerages recently commented on ACI. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised Albertsons Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $25.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Albertsons Companies from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd.

Albertsons Companies Trading Up 2.1%

ACI opened at $19.62 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.18. Albertsons Companies has a one year low of $17.00 and a one year high of $23.20.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $24.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.68 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 37.92% and a net margin of 1.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. Analysts predict that Albertsons Companies will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 25th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 36.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 47,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.46, for a total transaction of $1,015,122.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 162,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,488,730.74. This represents a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. West Oak Capital LLC acquired a new position in Albertsons Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Albertsons Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. WealthCollab LLC increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 446.0% during the 4th quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 1,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,454 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new position in Albertsons Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 340.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 1,483 shares during the period. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.