Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Short Interest Update

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,020,000 shares, a decrease of 9.6% from the January 15th total of 8,870,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albertsons Companies presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.21.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Albertsons Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $298,302,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Albertsons Companies by 55.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,150,522 shares of the company's stock worth $513,596,000 after purchasing an additional 9,308,940 shares during the last quarter. Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN increased its position in Albertsons Companies by 108.0% during the fourth quarter. Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN now owns 5,766,719 shares of the company's stock worth $113,258,000 after purchasing an additional 2,993,988 shares during the last quarter. Dendur Capital LP acquired a new stake in Albertsons Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $49,100,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Albertsons Companies by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,310,122 shares of the company's stock worth $713,131,000 after purchasing an additional 2,347,875 shares during the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACI traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $20.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,541,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,437,868. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $20.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $11.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.51. Albertsons Companies has a 12-month low of $17.00 and a 12-month high of $21.75.

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

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Albertsons Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. Albertsons Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.