WINTON GROUP Ltd Buys 54,561 Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 123.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 98,718 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 54,561 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $1,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 134.6% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 23,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 13,749 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Albertsons Companies by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,668,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,321,000 after purchasing an additional 118,855 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 27,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 54.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 338,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,252,000 after buying an additional 119,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 88.1% during 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 during the period. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACI opened at $21.15 on Friday. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.00 and a fifty-two week high of $22.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $12.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.61.

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

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ACI shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Albertsons Companies from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Six equities 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, Albertsons Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.50.

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.