Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI)

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $22.00 target price on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Telsey Advisory Group raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Albertsons Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.75.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

ACI stock opened at $19.69 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.90. Albertsons Companies has a 52-week low of $17.00 and a 52-week high of $23.47. The company has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.31.

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

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. Albertsons Companies’s payout ratio is 28.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 88.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,841,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,887,688 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 7.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,063,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,229,000 after buying an additional 592,711 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,615,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,213,000 after buying an additional 141,933 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP raised 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 valued at $157,946,000 after buying an additional 1,585,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,170,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239,978 shares in the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.