Telsey Advisory Group Upgrades Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) to Outperform

Telsey Advisory Group upgraded shares of Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $26.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $21.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ACI. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Albertsons Companies from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, October 18th. Melius raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Melius Research upgraded shares of Albertsons Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.75.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ACI traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $19.32. The company had a trading volume of 8,205,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,285,694. The firm has a market cap of $11.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.29, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.51. Albertsons Companies has a 12 month low of $17.00 and a 12 month high of $23.47. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $18.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.37. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $18.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.47 billion. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.25% and a return on equity of 49.50%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Albertsons Companies will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Albertsons Companies's payout ratio is 28.07%.

Institutional Trading of Albertsons Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ACI. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 7.8% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 46,670 shares of the company's stock worth $922,000 after acquiring an additional 3,366 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 2,948.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,896 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,801 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS acquired a new stake in Albertsons Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $360,000. Calamos Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 11.6% in the second quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 1,678,613 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,153,000 after buying an additional 174,349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 38.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,426,264 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,669,000 after buying an additional 956,744 shares during the period. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.