Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,020,000 shares, a decrease of 9.6% from the January 15th total of 8,870,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ACI. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 76.8% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,816 shares during the last quarter. GAM Holding AG lifted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 20,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $185,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 63.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 76,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,408,000 after buying an additional 29,505 shares during the period. 71.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ACI shares. Citigroup started coverage on Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI raised their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albertsons Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.21.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Shares of ACI stock traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $20.81. The stock had a trading volume of 3,613,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,261,776. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.51. Albertsons Companies has a one year low of $17.00 and a one year high of $21.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.39.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $18.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.82 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 44.70% and a net margin of 1.30%. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Albertsons Companies will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

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.