Albertsons Companies, Inc. $ACI Shares Bought by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 25.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,116,615 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 227,257 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $24,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,374,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $821,869,000 after buying an additional 1,064,547 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies during the second quarter valued at about $320,613,000. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 34.4% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 10,578,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,542,000 after acquiring an additional 2,705,368 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,977,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,597,000 after acquiring an additional 539,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,901,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,510,000 after purchasing an additional 124,824 shares during the period. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACI has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Albertsons Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albertsons Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.43.

Insider Activity at Albertsons Companies

In other news, insider Anuj Dhanda sold 230,000 shares of Albertsons Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.25, for a total transaction of $4,427,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 300,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,786,107.25. The trade was a 43.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael T. Theilmann sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.35, for a total value of $1,935,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 338,429 shares in the company, valued at $6,548,601.15. This trade represents a 22.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 1.35% of the company’s stock.

Albertsons Companies Trading Up 0.5%

ACI opened at $17.25 on Wednesday. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.70 and a 12 month high of $23.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $17.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.41.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $18.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 36.39% and a net margin of 1.20%.Albertsons Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. Albertsons Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.060-2.190 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Friday, October 24th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 24th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Albertsons Companies’s payout ratio is currently 35.50%.

Albertsons Companies 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.