Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) Sets New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) shares hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $23.00 to $22.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Albertsons Companies traded as low as $19.84 and last traded at $20.09, with a volume of 2130921 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.32.

ACI has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $27.25 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.45.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,023,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1,569.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 267,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,151,000 after purchasing an additional 251,424 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 776,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,870,000 after purchasing an additional 51,590 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 11.9% in the third quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 4,267,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,086,000 after purchasing an additional 454,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 466.2% in the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 96,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,205,000 after purchasing an additional 79,808 shares in the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Albertsons Companies Stock Down 0.7 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $20.85 and a 200 day moving average of $21.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.50.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Albertsons Companies’s payout ratio is 21.52%.

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.