Holocene Advisors LP Acquires 138,323 Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 55.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 386,358 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 138,323 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $7,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 88.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,841,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,887,688 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Albertsons Companies by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,170,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239,978 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 38.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,426,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,669,000 after purchasing an additional 956,744 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 25.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,624,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,337,000 after buying an additional 924,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lubert Adler Management Company LP lifted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 47.1% in the second quarter. Lubert Adler Management Company LP now owns 2,664,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,629,000 after buying an additional 852,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Albertsons Companies Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ACI opened at $19.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $18.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $11.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.51. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.80 and a 52-week high of $23.47.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 49.50% and a net margin of 1.25%. The business had revenue of $18.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ACI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Albertsons Companies from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday. Melius raised Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $27.25 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.25.

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.