Brokerages Set Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) PT at $22.75

Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.75.

Several brokerages recently commented on ACI. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Telsey Advisory Group upgraded Albertsons Companies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $26.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Melius Research raised 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. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 9.2% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,117,200 shares of the company's stock worth $20,646,000 after acquiring an additional 94,300 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 670,722 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,395,000 after purchasing an additional 36,154 shares during the last quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. grew its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 68.4% during the 3rd quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. now owns 270,501 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,999,000 after buying an additional 109,901 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $1,906,000. Finally, Lubert Adler Management Company LP raised its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 47.1% in the 2nd quarter. Lubert Adler Management Company LP now owns 2,664,735 shares of the company's stock worth $52,629,000 after buying an additional 852,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company's stock.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

NYSE ACI traded up $0.11 on Friday, hitting $19.52. 9,898,529 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,347,443. The firm has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.51. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $18.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.34. Albertsons Companies has a fifty-two week low of $17.00 and a fifty-two week high of $23.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 49.50% and a net margin of 1.25%. The firm had revenue of $18.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Albertsons Companies's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Albertsons Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.07%.

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.