Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 13.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,500 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 6.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 207,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,449,000 after acquiring an additional 13,058 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 109.7% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 57,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 29,849 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its position in Albertsons Companies by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 36,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 4,716 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Albertsons Companies in the first quarter worth $1,725,000. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in Albertsons Companies by 11.0% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 53,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after buying an additional 5,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on ACI. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $27.25 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, October 11th. Melius raised Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Melius Research raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albertsons Companies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.58.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:ACI opened at $19.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.50. The stock has a market cap of $11.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.49. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.80 and a twelve month high of $23.47.

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

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.07%.

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.