Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 1,039,586 Shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its stake in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 94.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 63,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,039,586 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Albertsons Companies were worth $1,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ACI. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 108.4% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Albertsons Companies by 225.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 959 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Albertsons Companies by 316.6% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,358 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albertsons Companies by 91.0% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 4,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Albertsons Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $179,000. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albertsons Companies Price Performance

Shares of ACI stock opened at $21.12 on Friday. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.00 and a fifty-two week high of $23.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.87, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.89.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $18.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.82 billion. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 44.70%. Albertsons Companies’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Albertsons Companies, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on ACI shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Albertsons Companies from $27.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Albertsons Companies in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.50.

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.