Albertsons Companies Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:ACI)

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 16,097 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 247% compared to the average daily volume of 4,641 put options.

Albertsons Companies Stock Up 0.9 %

Albertsons Companies stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $20.45. The company had a trading volume of 2,529,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,719,354. Albertsons Companies has a fifty-two week low of $19.33 and a fifty-two week high of $23.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.05 and its 200-day moving average is $20.72.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $24.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.16 billion. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.41% and a return on equity of 56.01%. Albertsons Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Albertsons Companies will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.52%.

Insider Activity

In other Albertsons Companies news, CAO Robert Bruce Larson sold 24,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.24, for a total transaction of $493,086.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 50,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,016,877.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Albertsons Companies news, CAO Robert Bruce Larson sold 24,362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.24, for a total transaction of $493,086.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 50,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,016,877.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anuj Dhanda sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.35, for a total transaction of $2,035,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 365,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,433,793.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 23,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 112,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,591,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 13,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.7% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 51,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 13,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the period. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Roth Mkm raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $27.25 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded shares of Albertsons Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.45.

Albertsons Companies Company 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.