Albertsons Companies’ (ACI) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $26.00 price target on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on ACI. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Melius raised Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Melius Research raised Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group reduced their target price on Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.21.

Albertsons Companies Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of ACI stock opened at $20.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.34. Albertsons Companies has a fifty-two week low of $17.00 and a fifty-two week high of $21.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Albertsons Companies will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 24th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its position in Albertsons Companies by 108.4% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Albertsons Companies by 225.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 959 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Albertsons Companies by 76.8% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 1,816 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Albertsons Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $179,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Albertsons Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $185,000. 71.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.