Swiss National Bank Acquires 61,700 Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,080,100 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 61,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.19% of Albertsons Companies worth $24,842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 9.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,144,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $754,026,000 after acquiring an additional 2,950,786 shares in the last quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Albertsons Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $64,739,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Albertsons Companies by 232.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,485,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737,466 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 95.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,230,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,751,000 after buying an additional 1,092,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 22.5% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,709,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,143,000 after buying an additional 865,554 shares during the period. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Robert Bruce Larson sold 24,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.24, for a total transaction of $493,086.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 50,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,016,877.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Albertsons Companies news, CAO Robert Bruce Larson sold 24,362 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.24, for a total transaction of $493,086.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 50,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,016,877.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anuj Dhanda sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.35, for a total transaction of $2,035,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 365,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,433,793.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Roth Mkm raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $27.25 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Roth Capital upgraded Albertsons Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.45.

Albertsons Companies Stock Up 0.7 %

ACI opened at $20.75 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.46. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.84 and a 52 week high of $23.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market cap of $11.98 billion, a PE ratio of 9.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.51.

Albertsons Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 21.52%.

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.