Albertsons Cos. Inc. shares jumped 5% in Monday premarket trading after the grocer reported fiscal second-quarter results that beat expectations and raised its full-year guidance. Net income totaled $295.2 million, or 52 cents per share, up from $284.5 million, or 49 cents per share, last year. Adjusted EPS of 54 cents beat the FactSet consensus for 45 cents per share. Sales of $16.506 billion were up from $15.758 billion and also ahead of the FactSet consensus of $15.864 billion. Identical sales rose 1.5%, above the FactSet consensus for a 1.2% decline. Albertsons announced a 20% rise to the company’s dividend to 12 cents. And the company has raised its full-year outlook. It now expects identical sales in the range of a 2.5%-to-3.5% decline, versus previous guidance for a 5%-to-6% drop. And adjusted EPS is now forecast for a range of $2.50 to $2.60 up from previous guidance for a range of $2.20 to $2.30. The FactSet consensus is for an identical sales decline of 4% and EPS of $2.28. Albertsons shares have gained 62.5% for the year to date while the benchmark S&P 500 index is up 19% for the period.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
