Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI – Get Rating) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 358,486 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,581 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $7,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Albertsons Companies by 95.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,614,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,181,000 after acquiring an additional 7,613,034 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 6.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,466,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,757,000 after buying an additional 375,175 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Albertsons Companies by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,244,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,860 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 143.0% in the third quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 5,715,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,076,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $84,628,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.58% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Robert Bruce Larson sold 32,544 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.95, for a total transaction of $681,796.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 50,241 shares in the company, valued at $1,052,548.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ACI opened at $20.30 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.86. The stock has a market cap of $11.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.74. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.14 and a twelve month high of $31.29.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 11th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.08. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.95% and a return on equity of 68.28%. The firm had revenue of $18.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.16 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Albertsons Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 26th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 25th. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ACI. Tigress Financial upgraded shares of Albertsons Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $27.25 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Monday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Thursday, April 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Albertsons Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.93.

About Albertsons Companies

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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.