Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.15 Per Share

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 8th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share on Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. This is an increase from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12.

Albertsons Companies has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.6% annually over the last three years. Albertsons Companies has a payout ratio of 20.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Albertsons Companies to earn $2.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.9%.

Albertsons Companies Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE ACI opened at $19.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.31. Albertsons Companies has a 12 month low of $17.00 and a 12 month high of $23.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ACI. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday. Melius raised Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.75.

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.