Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Short Interest Update

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,800,000 shares, a drop of 22.7% from the October 15th total of 13,970,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,440,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $27.25 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, October 11th. Melius raised Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.58.

Albertsons Companies Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ACI opened at $18.88 on Friday. Albertsons Companies has a 1-year low of $17.80 and a 1-year high of $23.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $18.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.58.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $18.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.47 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 49.50% and a net margin of 1.25%. The business’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Albertsons Companies will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.07%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 88.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,841,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,232,000 after acquiring an additional 7,887,688 shares during the period. Parsifal Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 22.8% in the third quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 8,546,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,585,899 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 25.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,170,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239,978 shares during the period. Anson Funds Management LP boosted its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 973.0% during the third quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 1,190,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,994,000 after buying an additional 1,079,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Albertsons Companies by 38.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,426,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,669,000 after buying an additional 956,744 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.35% of the company’s stock.

Albertsons Companies Company 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.