Investors Buy High Volume of Albertsons Companies Call Options (NYSE:ACI)

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 20,351 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 472% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,559 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anuj Dhanda sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.35, for a total transaction of $2,035,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 365,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,433,793.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Albertsons Companies news, insider Anuj Dhanda sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.35, for a total value of $2,035,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 365,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,433,793.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Robert Bruce Larson sold 24,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.24, for a total transaction of $493,086.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 50,241 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,016,877.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Albertsons Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,023,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 1,569.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 267,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,151,000 after purchasing an additional 251,424 shares during the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 776,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,870,000 after purchasing an additional 51,590 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,404,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,305,000 after purchasing an additional 692,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 9.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,144,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $754,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,950,786 shares during the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACI has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $27.25 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Roth Mkm raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Roth Capital raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albertsons Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.45.

Albertsons Companies Stock Up 0.1 %

ACI stock opened at $19.89 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $20.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 0.84. Albertsons Companies has a fifty-two week low of $19.47 and a fifty-two week high of $23.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.92, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.49.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.64% and a return on equity of 68.02%. The firm had revenue of $18.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.40 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Albertsons Companies will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.52%.

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.