tru Independence LLC Reduces Stock Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

tru Independence LLC lowered its position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) by 38.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 134,605 shares of the company's stock after selling 84,290 shares during the quarter. tru Independence LLC's holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $2,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Albertsons Companies by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,010 shares of the company's stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 108.4% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,324 shares of the company's stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 895 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 60,655 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,198,000 after buying an additional 933 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,192 shares of the company's stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 1,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ACI. Citigroup started coverage on Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Tigress Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group cut their price target on Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Albertsons Companies from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Albertsons Companies Trading Down 0.7 %

ACI traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $19.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,559,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,500,625. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.00 and a fifty-two week high of $21.92. The stock has a market cap of $11.46 billion, a PE ratio of 11.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.51. The business's 50-day moving average is $19.55 and its 200-day moving average is $19.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 44.70% and a net margin of 1.30%. The firm had revenue of $18.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. This is a boost from Albertsons Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. Albertsons Companies's dividend payout ratio is 26.97%.

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.