Everence Capital Management Inc. Buys Shares of 12,320 Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 12,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 76.8% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 1,816 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Albertsons Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $150,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 2,243.9% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 8,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 8,594 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $185,000. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies during the 3rd quarter worth about $199,000. 71.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on ACI. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.75.

Albertsons Companies Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:ACI opened at $19.80 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $11.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $19.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.31. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.00 and a 52-week high of $23.47.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $18.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.82 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 49.50% and a net margin of 1.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. This is a positive change from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Albertsons Companies’s payout ratio is currently 28.07%.

Albertsons Companies 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.