12,044 Shares in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Bought by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 12,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DnB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 80,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,572,000 after purchasing an additional 10,544 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Albertsons Companies by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 186,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,654,000 after acquiring an additional 28,303 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Albertsons Companies in the 4th quarter worth $298,302,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its position in Albertsons Companies by 123.6% during the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 98,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,939,000 after acquiring an additional 54,561 shares during the period. Finally, Korea Investment CORP grew its stake in Albertsons Companies by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 247,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,852,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Albertsons Companies stock opened at $22.45 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.72. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.00 and a 1 year high of $22.59.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $18.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.82 billion. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 44.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. This is a boost from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ACI shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, January 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Albertsons Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.50.

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.