Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.15 Per Share

Albertsons Companies, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 8th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share on Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. This is a positive change from Albertsons Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12.

Albertsons Companies has increased its dividend by an average of 4.6% per year over the last three years. Albertsons Companies has a payout ratio of 20.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Albertsons Companies to earn $2.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.9%.

Albertsons Companies Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ACI opened at $19.80 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.29 and its 200 day moving average is $19.31. Albertsons Companies has a 52 week low of $17.00 and a 52 week high of $23.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The company has a market cap of $11.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.51.

Albertsons Companies (NYSE:ACI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.07. Albertsons Companies had a net margin of 1.25% and a return on equity of 49.50%. The firm had revenue of $18.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albertsons Companies will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on ACI shares. UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Albertsons Companies from $24.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Albertsons Companies in a report on Friday, October 18th. Melius Research raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Melius raised shares of Albertsons Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Albertsons Companies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.75.

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.