Brokerages Set Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Price Target at $22.75

Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.75.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ACI. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Telsey Advisory Group raised Albertsons Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $26.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACI. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 108.4% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Albertsons Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Albertsons Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $150,000. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 2,243.9% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 8,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 8,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Albertsons Companies during the third quarter worth $185,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Albertsons Companies Stock Up 0.5 %

Albertsons Companies stock opened at $19.92 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.33. Albertsons Companies has a twelve month low of $17.00 and a twelve month high of $23.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.65, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $18.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.47 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 49.50% and a net margin of 1.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Albertsons Companies’s payout ratio is 28.07%.

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.