Seizert Capital Partners LLC Grows Stake in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Seizert Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,805,823 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 147,631 shares during the quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $35,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ACI. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 88.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,841,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,887,688 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,063,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,229,000 after purchasing an additional 592,711 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,615,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,213,000 after purchasing an additional 141,933 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 8,546,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew 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. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in 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 note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America assumed coverage on Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.21.

Albertsons Companies Trading Down 4.4 %

Shares of ACI stock opened at $19.79 on Wednesday. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.00 and a 1-year high of $21.67. The firm has a market cap of $11.46 billion, a PE ratio of 11.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day moving average of $20.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $18.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.82 billion. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 44.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a positive change from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

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.