Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Position Lessened by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co lowered its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 76.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,075 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,600 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $41,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 88.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,841,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,887,688 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Albertsons Companies by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,063,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,229,000 after purchasing an additional 592,711 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,615,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,213,000 after purchasing an additional 141,933 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP grew 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 worth $157,946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 25.1% in the third 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 period. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACI has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Albertsons Companies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.21.

Albertsons Companies Trading Up 0.8 %

Albertsons Companies stock opened at $20.41 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $11.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last issued its 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 return on equity of 44.70% and a net margin of 1.30%. The business had revenue of $18.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Albertsons Companies Profile

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.