Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Raises Holdings in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 9.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 241,727 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,222 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $5,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 15,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 2,248 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,384,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,465,000 after buying an additional 522,926 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Albertsons Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $243,000. Factorial Partners LLC boosted its position in Albertsons Companies by 839.1% during the 4th quarter. Factorial Partners LLC now owns 108,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,121,000 after buying an additional 96,500 shares during the period. Finally, Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in Albertsons Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $4,219,000. 71.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ACI shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Albertsons Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albertsons Companies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albertsons Companies news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 47,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.46, for a total value of $1,015,122.38. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 162,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,488,730.74. The trade was a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Albertsons Companies Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE ACI opened at $21.21 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.21 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.81 and its 200 day moving average is $21.01. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.00 and a twelve month high of $23.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $18.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.78 billion. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.19% and a return on equity of 41.03%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 25th. Albertsons Companies’s payout ratio is currently 36.59%.

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.