Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.4286.

ACI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Albertsons Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Albertsons Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

Shares of ACI stock opened at $18.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $18.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.86. Albertsons Companies has a 12 month low of $16.70 and a 12 month high of $23.20.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.04. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.20% and a return on equity of 36.39%. The business had revenue of $18.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Albertsons Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.060-2.190 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Albertsons Companies will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 24th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 24th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albertsons Companies

In other news, insider Anuj Dhanda sold 230,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.25, for a total transaction of $4,427,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 300,577 shares in the company, valued at $5,786,107.25. This represents a 43.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael T. Theilmann sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.35, for a total transaction of $1,935,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 338,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,548,601.15. The trade was a 22.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACI. Norges Bank bought a new position in Albertsons Companies during the second quarter worth $320,613,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 1,601.1% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,729,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,807,000 after purchasing an additional 4,451,250 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies during the second quarter valued at about $81,463,000. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 6,541.5% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 3,723,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,882,000 after purchasing an additional 3,667,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Shore Management Inc CT bought a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $65,530,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.