Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) Receives “Buy” Rating from The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group reissued their buy rating on shares of Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) in a research report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $26.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on ACI. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America started coverage on Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.21.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ACI opened at $20.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $11.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.34. Albertsons Companies has a 52 week low of $17.00 and a 52 week high of $21.75.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $18.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.82 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 44.70% and a net margin of 1.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in Albertsons Companies by 88.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,841,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,887,688 shares during the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP raised its position in Albertsons Companies by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 8,546,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585,899 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Albertsons Companies by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,170,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239,978 shares during the last quarter. Trium Capital LLP bought a new position in Albertsons Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $23,678,000. Finally, Anson Funds Management LP raised its position in Albertsons Companies by 973.0% in the 3rd quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 1,190,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079,246 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

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.