Impax Asset Management Group plc Makes New $683,000 Investment in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 34,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $683,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in Albertsons Companies by 88.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,841,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,887,688 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,063,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,229,000 after acquiring an additional 592,711 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,615,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,213,000 after acquiring an additional 141,933 shares during the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 8,546,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,946,000 after acquiring an additional 1,585,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albertsons Companies Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE ACI opened at $20.67 on Wednesday. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.00 and a 1-year high of $21.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. The company has a market capitalization of $11.97 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.44.

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

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 33.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.21.

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.