Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 97,244 Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) by 88.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 206,691 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 97,244 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $3,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Albertsons Companies by 108.4% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Albertsons Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $126,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Albertsons Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $150,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in Albertsons Companies by 2,243.9% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 8,977 shares of the company's stock worth $177,000 after buying an additional 8,594 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.35% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ACI shares. Tigress Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Melius upgraded Albertsons Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $27.25 to $21.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.09.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Shares of ACI traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $19.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,440,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,244,013. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $17.00 and a one year high of $23.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.51. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $18.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.38.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $18.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Albertsons Companies's payout ratio is presently 28.07%.

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.