Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Cuts Stock Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC trimmed its position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 27.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,186,313 shares of the company’s stock after selling 819,791 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $42,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 108.4% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 225.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 959 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 316.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 91.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 4,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $179,000. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ACI. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup started coverage on Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.50.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

Shares of ACI opened at $21.95 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.00 and a 52 week high of $23.20. The stock has a market cap of $12.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.47.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $18.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.82 billion. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 44.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Albertsons Companies, Inc. 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

Albertsons Companies Profile

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.