47,544 Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. $ACI Acquired by Focused Alpha LLC

Focused Alpha LLC bought a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 47,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Albertsons Companies by 144.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $66,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 2,406.4% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 4,909 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 170.9% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 3,523 shares in the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Albertsons Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $14.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Albertsons Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $23.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Albertsons Companies from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Albertsons Companies currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $13.42.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

ACI opened at $13.16 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.89, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.11. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $10.86 and a 52-week high of $20.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -119.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.40.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 13th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $18.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.87 billion. Albertsons Companies had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 52.17%. The firm’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 23rd will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 23rd. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -618.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albertsons Companies

In other Albertsons Companies news, EVP Thomas Moriarty purchased 170,500 shares of Albertsons Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.51 per share, with a total value of $1,962,455.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 308,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,555,968.46. This trade represents a 123.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Sharon Mccollam purchased 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.48 per share, for a total transaction of $103,320.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 567,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,509,745.48. The trade was a 1.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought a total of 218,909 shares of company stock worth $2,515,826 in the last three months. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Albertsons Companies

Albertsons Companies, Inc is a U.S. food and drug retailer that operates supermarkets, pharmacies, fuel centers and e-commerce businesses. Its stores offer fresh food, groceries, meat and seafood, bakery and deli items, household products, health and beauty products, and prepared meals.

The company operates through a portfolio of regional and national banners, including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, ACME, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Pavilions, United Supermarkets, Market Street, Amigos, Carrs, Haggen, Star Market and Kings Food Markets.