Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI)

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors bought 34,823 call options on the company. This is an increase of 228% compared to the typical volume of 10,618 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ACI. Melius Research upgraded 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 88.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,841,582 shares of the company's stock worth $311,232,000 after buying an additional 7,887,688 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 7.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,063,266 shares of the company's stock worth $167,229,000 after purchasing an additional 592,711 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,615,413 shares of the company's stock worth $159,213,000 after acquiring an additional 141,933 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 8,546,881 shares of the company's stock valued at $157,946,000 after buying an additional 1,585,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 25.1% during the third 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.35% of the company's stock.

Albertsons Companies Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of Albertsons Companies stock traded up $0.73 during trading on Monday, hitting $20.68. 9,318,274 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,523,352. Albertsons Companies has a 52-week low of $17.00 and a 52-week high of $22.71. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $19.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.32. The firm has a market cap of $11.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.82 billion. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.25% and a return on equity of 49.50%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Albertsons Companies will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Albertsons Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Albertsons Companies's payout ratio is 33.71%.

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.