Calamos Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Calamos Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 47.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,050,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 933,214 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $20,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACI. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 4.4% in the 3rd 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 108.4% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 933 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 10.0% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 1,197 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ACI. Melius raised Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Albertsons Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.00.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACI opened at $19.55 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $19.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.51. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.00 and a 1-year high of $21.75.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. This is a positive change from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.