Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 12,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 88.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,841,582 shares of the company's stock worth $311,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,887,688 shares during the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 8,546,881 shares of the company's stock worth $157,946,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585,899 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,170,601 shares of the company's stock worth $114,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239,978 shares during the last quarter. Trium Capital LLP purchased a new position in Albertsons Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $23,678,000. Finally, Anson Funds Management LP raised its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 973.0% in the 3rd quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 1,190,165 shares of the company's stock worth $21,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079,246 shares during the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ACI. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, January 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine 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 a consensus price target of $23.43.

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Albertsons Companies Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of ACI stock opened at $21.47 on Wednesday. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.00 and a 1 year high of $21.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.48. 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 company has a market cap of $12.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.50.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $18.77 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. This is an increase from Albertsons Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Albertsons Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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