Perigon Wealth Management LLC Boosts Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 44.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,014 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,093 shares during the quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Albertsons Companies by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,117,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,646,000 after purchasing an additional 94,300 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 5.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 670,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,395,000 after buying an additional 36,154 shares in the last quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 68.4% during the 3rd quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. now owns 270,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,999,000 after buying an additional 109,901 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in Albertsons Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,906,000. Finally, Winthrop Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Albertsons Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,011,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ACI shares. Melius Research raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup assumed coverage on Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albertsons Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

Shares of ACI opened at $20.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $19.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.35. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.00 and a 12-month high of $21.75.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.07. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 44.70%. The company had revenue of $18.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio 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.