Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Short Interest Up 20.9% in November

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 13,900,000 shares, an increase of 20.9% from the November 15th total of 11,500,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Albertsons Companies Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ACI opened at $19.50 on Monday. Albertsons Companies has a fifty-two week low of $17.00 and a fifty-two week high of $23.47. 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 50-day simple moving average is $18.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.38. The company has a market cap of $11.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.51.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 49.50% and a net margin of 1.25%. The company 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 company earned $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Albertsons Companies will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ACI. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 88.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,063,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,229,000 after acquiring an additional 592,711 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,615,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,213,000 after purchasing an additional 141,933 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP increased its position 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 valued at $157,946,000 after buying an additional 1,585,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 25.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Albertsons Companies from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.25 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Finally, Melius Research raised Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Six 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.09.

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.