Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.15

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 15th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share on Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th.

Albertsons Companies has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.0% annually over the last three years. Albertsons Companies has a dividend payout ratio of 25.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Albertsons Companies to earn $2.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.0%.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

Albertsons Companies stock traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $21.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,042,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,307,437. The firm has a market cap of $12.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.97. Albertsons Companies has a twelve month low of $17.00 and a twelve month high of $23.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.06. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 44.70% and a net margin of 1.30%. The company had revenue of $18.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Albertsons Companies will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ACI. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.36.

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.