Diametric Capital LP Sells 37,718 Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Diametric Capital LP lowered its stake in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) by 48.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,221 shares of the company's stock after selling 37,718 shares during the quarter. Diametric Capital LP's holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 134.6% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 23,966 shares of the company's stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 13,749 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 54.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 338,127 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,252,000 after purchasing an additional 119,331 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 270,177 shares of the company's stock worth $4,993,000 after buying an additional 47,044 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 5.6% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,159,736 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,912,000 after buying an additional 115,030 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 59.6% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 71,151 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,315,000 after buying an additional 26,582 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.35% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on ACI. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup started coverage on Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.50.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

Shares of ACI stock traded down $0.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $21.95. The company had a trading volume of 6,566,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,110,686. The company has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $20.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.77. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $17.00 and a one year high of $23.20.

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

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Albertsons Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Albertsons Companies's payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

Albertsons Companies 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.