Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Announces $0.15 Quarterly Dividend

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 15th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share on Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th.

Albertsons Companies has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.0% per year over the last three years. Albertsons Companies has a dividend payout ratio of 25.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Albertsons Companies to earn $2.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.0%.

Albertsons Companies Trading Up 6.0 %

Shares of ACI opened at $21.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Albertsons Companies has a 1-year low of $17.00 and a 1-year high of $23.20. The company has a market capitalization of $12.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.93.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $18.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 44.70% and a net margin of 1.30%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Albertsons Companies will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Wednesday. Six investment 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.36.

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.