Calamos Advisors LLC Has $20.62 Million Stock Position in Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI)

Calamos Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) by 47.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,050,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 933,214 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.18% of Albertsons Companies worth $20,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ACI. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Albertsons Companies by 9.2% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,117,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,646,000 after purchasing an additional 94,300 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Albertsons Companies by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 670,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,395,000 after buying an additional 36,154 shares during the last quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. raised its holdings in Albertsons Companies by 68.4% during the 3rd quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. now owns 270,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,999,000 after purchasing an additional 109,901 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in Albertsons Companies in the third quarter valued at $1,906,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albertsons Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $248,000. 71.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on ACI. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Albertsons Companies from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Albertsons Companies in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.00.

Albertsons Companies Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE ACI opened at $19.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $11.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Albertsons Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.00 and a 1 year high of $21.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $19.63 and a 200 day moving average of $19.34.

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

Albertsons Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a boost from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Albertsons Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

Albertsons Companies 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.