Albertsons Companies, Inc. $ACI Shares Sold by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 15.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,863 shares of the company’s stock after selling 507 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $62,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. West Oak Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albertsons Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new position in Albertsons Companies in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Albertsons Companies by 340.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,483 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Albertsons Companies in the second quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albertsons Companies

In related news, EVP Michael T. Theilmann sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.35, for a total transaction of $1,935,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 338,429 shares in the company, valued at $6,548,601.15. This trade represents a 22.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anuj Dhanda sold 230,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.25, for a total value of $4,427,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 300,577 shares in the company, valued at $5,786,107.25. This trade represents a 43.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ACI. Zacks Research raised Albertsons Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.50.

Albertsons Companies Stock Performance

Shares of ACI opened at $19.77 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $18.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.43. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.70 and a 12-month high of $23.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.86 billion, a PE ratio of 11.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.18.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.01. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 36.39% and a net margin of 1.20%.The firm had revenue of $24.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Friday, October 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 24th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.50%.

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.