Gallacher Capital Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Albertsons Companies, Inc. $ACI

Gallacher Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 36,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $630,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.7% during the first quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 43,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 387,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,610,000 after purchasing an additional 12,089 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 36.8% during the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 19,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 5,197 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in Albertsons Companies by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 121,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,073,000 after buying an additional 3,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension now owns 1,502,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,607,000 after buying an additional 152,853 shares during the period. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACI has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings cut Albertsons Companies from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Albertsons Companies from $22.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.25.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:ACI opened at $15.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.58. The company has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $15.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.50. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.16 and a twelve month high of $20.91.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.05. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 0.26% and a return on equity of 42.75%. The company had revenue of $20.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 24th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 212.50%.

Albertsons Companies Company Profile

Albertsons Companies, Inc (NYSE: ACI) is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States, operating a diversified portfolio of grocery store banners. Founded in 1939 by Joe Albertson in Boise, Idaho, the company has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions. Its core business activities encompass the sale of fresh produce, meat, bakery items, deli offerings, pharmacy services, and general merchandise. The company’s retail operations are complemented by an in-house private-label program, featuring brands such as O Organics, Open Nature, and Lucerne, which cater to a range of customer preferences and price points.

Throughout its history, Albertsons Companies has pursued growth via mergers and partnerships.