R Squared Ltd Invests $179,000 in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACIFree Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $179,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ACI. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 4.4% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 108.4% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 4.9% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 60,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,197 shares in the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ACI. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Melius Research upgraded Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albertsons Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

View Our Latest Stock Report on ACI

Albertsons Companies Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Albertsons Companies stock opened at $20.03 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $11.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.34. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.00 and a 52-week high of $21.81. 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:ACIGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $18.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.82 billion. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 44.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. 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 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.71%.

Albertsons Companies Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI)

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