Royal Bank Of Canada Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI)

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by stock analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $13.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.91% from the company’s previous close.

ACI has been the subject of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $13.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Albertsons Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Albertsons Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $11.00 in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $20.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.31.

Albertsons Companies Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE ACI opened at $11.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.94, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.22. Albertsons Companies has a 52-week low of $10.86 and a 52-week high of $20.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $12.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.39.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.12). Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 45.59% and a net margin of 0.08%.The firm had revenue of $24.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Albertsons Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.750-1.850 EPS. Research analysts predict that Albertsons Companies will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Albertsons Companies

In other Albertsons Companies news, CFO Sharon Mccollam purchased 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.48 per share, with a total value of $103,320.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 567,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,509,745.48. This trade represents a 1.61% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Susan Morris purchased 39,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.42 per share, for a total transaction of $450,050.78. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,092,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,481,557.52. The trade was a 3.74% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 218,909 shares of company stock valued at $2,515,826. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ACI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 11.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,013,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,855,000 after acquiring an additional 1,583,741 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,179,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,258,000 after purchasing an additional 430,101 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,403,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,273,000 after purchasing an additional 43,087 shares during the period. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 2,321,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,407,000 after purchasing an additional 285,280 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Albertsons Companies by 53.4% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 2,209,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,896,000 after buying an additional 769,503 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

About Albertsons Companies

Albertsons Companies, Inc is a U.S. food and drug retailer headquartered in Boise, Idaho. The company operates supermarkets, pharmacies and related retail businesses under banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, ACME, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Carrs and Haggen.

Its stores offer groceries, fresh produce, meat and seafood, bakery and deli items, household products, health and beauty products, and pharmacy services. Albertsons also provides private-label products, fuel at select locations, grocery delivery and pickup, digital shopping tools, and customer loyalty programs.

The company’s history traces to 1939, when Joe Albertson opened the first Albertsons store in Boise.