Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Stake Boosted by WINTON GROUP Ltd

WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI - Free Report) by 123.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,718 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 54,561 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd's holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $1,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 134.6% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 23,966 shares of the company's stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 13,749 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 4.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,668,903 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,321,000 after purchasing an additional 118,855 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 13.2% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 27,500 shares of the company's stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 54.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 338,127 shares of the company's stock worth $6,252,000 after buying an additional 119,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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 buying an additional 7,887,688 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACI has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.50.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Shares of Albertsons Companies stock traded up $0.33 on Monday, hitting $21.95. The company had a trading volume of 3,075,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,032,813. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.00 and a 52 week high of $22.05. The company has a market cap of $12.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.65. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Albertsons Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. Albertsons Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

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.