Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) Price Target Cut to $24.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) had its price objective cut by UBS Group from $27.00 to $24.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on ACI. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Albertsons Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.75.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:ACI traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $19.32. The stock had a trading volume of 8,205,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,285,694. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.51. Albertsons Companies has a 52 week low of $17.00 and a 52 week high of $23.47.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share 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 company 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 company posted $0.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Albertsons Companies's dividend payout ratio is 28.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,063,266 shares of the company's stock worth $167,229,000 after acquiring an additional 592,711 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,615,413 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,213,000 after acquiring an additional 141,933 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 22.8% in the third quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 8,546,881 shares of the company's stock valued at $157,946,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585,899 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Albertsons Companies by 25.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,170,601 shares of the company's stock worth $114,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239,978 shares in the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Albertsons Companies

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.