Royal Bank Of Canada Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI)

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $13.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.78% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on ACI. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Albertsons Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $11.00 price target (down from $17.00) on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $20.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut Albertsons Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Albertsons Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.31.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

ACI stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $11.74. 8,576,021 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,655,631. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 146.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.40. Albertsons Companies has a 52 week low of $10.86 and a 52 week high of $20.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.22, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $12.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.39.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $24.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.84 billion. Albertsons Companies had a return on equity of 45.59% and a net margin of 0.08%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. Albertsons Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.750-1.850 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Albertsons Companies will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albertsons Companies news, CEO Susan Morris acquired 39,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.42 per share, with a total value of $450,050.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,092,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,481,557.52. The trade was a 3.74% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Sharon Mccollam bought 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.48 per share, with a total value of $103,320.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 567,051 shares in the company, valued at $6,509,745.48. This trade represents a 1.61% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 218,909 shares of company stock valued at $2,515,826. Company insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albertsons Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 11.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,013,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,855,000 after acquiring an additional 1,583,741 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 9.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,179,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,258,000 after purchasing an additional 430,101 shares in the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 2,403,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,273,000 after purchasing an additional 43,087 shares in the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB grew its stake in Albertsons Companies by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 2,321,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,407,000 after acquiring an additional 285,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Albertsons Companies by 53.4% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 2,209,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,896,000 after acquiring an additional 769,503 shares in the last quarter. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albertsons Companies Company Profile

Albertsons Companies, Inc is a U.S. food and drug retailer headquartered in Boise, Idaho. The company operates supermarkets, pharmacies and related retail businesses under banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, ACME, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Carrs and Haggen.

Its stores offer groceries, fresh produce, meat and seafood, bakery and deli items, household products, health and beauty products, and pharmacy services. Albertsons also provides private-label products, fuel at select locations, grocery delivery and pickup, digital shopping tools, and customer loyalty programs.

The company’s history traces to 1939, when Joe Albertson opened the first Albertsons store in Boise.