Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 12.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,963 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,902 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,923,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,236,000 after acquiring an additional 362,813 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 25.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,624,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,337,000 after purchasing an additional 924,519 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 38.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,426,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,669,000 after purchasing an additional 956,744 shares during the period. Lubert Adler Management Company LP boosted its position in Albertsons Companies by 47.1% in the second quarter. Lubert Adler Management Company LP now owns 2,664,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,629,000 after buying an additional 852,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,152,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,787,000 after buying an additional 178,530 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACI has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Melius Research raised Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $27.25 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, October 11th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Melius upgraded shares of Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.58.

Albertsons Companies Stock Up 1.6 %

Albertsons Companies stock opened at $19.37 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.52. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.80 and a twelve month high of $23.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $18.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.47 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 49.50% and a net margin of 1.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.07%.

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.