A Bullish Upgrade Has Albertsons Stock Bagging Gains

Shares of Albertsons have zipped higher in recent weeks after a downbeat outlook weighed down the grocer’s stock. An analyst’s upgrade has them moving even higher today. 

Albertsons Cos. (ACI) shares were recently up more than 2%, leaving them not far off early April year-to-date highs and well above lows seen later last month after the company turned in a 2025 profit outlook that was weaker than expected. (Read Investopedia’s full coverage of today’s trading here.)

Investors have had plenty of reasons to re-evaluate Albertsons lately, with the company replacing its CEO in March. That move came after a planned merger with Kroger (KR) was shot down by regulators. 

Late yesterday, BMO analysts offered up more reasons for bullishness as they upgraded the stock to “outperform” from “market perform”—essentially, to “buy” from “neutral”—and set a $25 target price, 14% above Tuesday’s close, on the shares. Wall Street’s average target is a bit below $24, according to Visible Alpha.

Albertsons “may see valuation expansion from low levels as investors seek cheap, defensive stocks in [the second half of 2025],” BMO wrote, adding that earnings expectations appear “appropriately low with margins nearly back to 2019 levels.”