Brokerages Set Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Target Price at $23.58

Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.58.

ACI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $27.25 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Melius raised Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACI opened at $18.45 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $18.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.49. Albertsons Companies has a 1-year low of $17.80 and a 1-year high of $23.47.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.25% and a return on equity of 49.50%. The business had revenue of $18.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Albertsons Companies will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 28th. Albertsons Companies’s payout ratio is 28.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,160,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $710,951,000 after buying an additional 335,783 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 1.7% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,078,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,881,000 after buying an additional 85,707 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,923,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,236,000 after buying an additional 362,813 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,624,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,337,000 after acquiring an additional 924,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 956,744 shares during the period. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.