Albertsons Companies’ (ACI) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada restated their outperform rating on shares of Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $22.00 price target on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Melius raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Melius Research raised Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.75.

Albertsons Companies Stock Up 0.5 %

Albertsons Companies stock opened at $19.69 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The stock has a market cap of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.51. Albertsons Companies has a twelve month low of $17.00 and a twelve month high of $23.47.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $18.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.47 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 49.50% and a net margin of 1.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Albertsons Companies will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in Albertsons Companies by 88.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,841,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,887,688 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 22.8% during the third quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 8,546,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,946,000 after buying an additional 1,585,899 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 25.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,170,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,033,000 after buying an additional 1,239,978 shares in the last quarter. Anson Funds Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 973.0% in the 3rd quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 1,190,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,624,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,337,000 after acquiring an additional 924,519 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

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.