Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 24,809 Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 24,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,800,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $1,420,000. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. III Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,892,000. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $232,000. 71.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Albertsons Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $19.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Albertsons Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $27.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Albertsons Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Omer Gajial sold 47,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.46, for a total transaction of $1,015,122.38. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 162,569 shares in the company, valued at $3,488,730.74. This trade represents a 22.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.35% of the company’s stock.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

Shares of ACI stock opened at $19.36 on Tuesday. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.00 and a 12-month high of $23.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The company has a market cap of $10.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.23.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $24.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.68 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 37.92% and a net margin of 1.18%. The company’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 25th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 25th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 36.59%.

Albertsons Companies 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.