Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 4,900 Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its holdings in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 102,892 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,900 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $2,021,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 88.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,841,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,232,000 after buying an additional 7,887,688 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 7.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,063,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,229,000 after buying an additional 592,711 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 141,933 shares during the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 22.8% in the third quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 8,546,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,946,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585,899 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 25.1% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.21.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

NYSE ACI opened at $20.67 on Wednesday. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.00 and a 52-week high of $21.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $20.12 and a 200-day moving average of $19.44. The company has a market capitalization of $11.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.51. 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 (NYSE:ACI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $18.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.82 billion. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 44.70%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

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.