Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $608,000 Stake in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,767 shares of the company’s stock after selling 564 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ACI. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 38.7% during the 2nd 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. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in Albertsons Companies by 84.7% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,598,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,278,000 after acquiring an additional 733,000 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Albertsons Companies by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,404,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,305,000 after acquiring an additional 692,188 shares during the period. Murchinson Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies during the first quarter worth $14,719,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,773,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,785,000 after purchasing an additional 569,770 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $27.25 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.45.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Shares of Albertsons Companies stock opened at $18.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a PE ratio of 8.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.49. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.80 and a 12-month high of $23.53. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.01). Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 56.01% and a net margin of 1.41%. The business had revenue of $24.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.