Value Investment Professionals LLC Takes Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. $ACI

Value Investment Professionals LLC purchased a new stake in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 54,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $923,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Albertsons Companies during the 4th quarter worth $388,089,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 101.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,687,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,678,000 after acquiring an additional 5,873,759 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 62.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,429,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,595,000 after acquiring an additional 5,159,905 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,330,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $675,305,000 after acquiring an additional 5,110,777 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 113.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,749,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,546,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519,432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Albertsons Companies from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.54.

Albertsons Companies Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ACI stock opened at $14.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.42. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.16 and a twelve month high of $22.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.69.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $20.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.49 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 42.75% and a net margin of 0.26%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. Albertsons Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.220-2.320 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 24th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. This is an increase from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 24th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 212.50%.

Albertsons Companies Profile

Albertsons Companies, Inc (NYSE: ACI) is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States, operating a diversified portfolio of grocery store banners. Founded in 1939 by Joe Albertson in Boise, Idaho, the company has grown through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions. Its core business activities encompass the sale of fresh produce, meat, bakery items, deli offerings, pharmacy services, and general merchandise. The company’s retail operations are complemented by an in-house private-label program, featuring brands such as O Organics, Open Nature, and Lucerne, which cater to a range of customer preferences and price points.

Throughout its history, Albertsons Companies has pursued growth via mergers and partnerships.