Albany International (NYSE:AIN) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Albany International (NYSE:AIN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on AIN. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Albany International to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Albany International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Albany International from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Albany International from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.75.

Albany International Price Performance

Shares of AIN stock opened at $80.76 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 3.68 and a quick ratio of 2.94. Albany International has a one year low of $67.39 and a one year high of $98.73. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.24 and a beta of 1.35.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The textile maker reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.35. Albany International had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 7.92%. The company had revenue of $298.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $304.51 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.02 EPS. Albany International’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Albany International will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

Albany International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Albany International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Albany International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.75%.

Insider Activity at Albany International

In related news, CEO Gunnar Kleveland purchased 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $71.25 per share, for a total transaction of $99,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 8,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $590,235. This trade represents a 20.34 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Joseph M. Gaug purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $71.24 per share, with a total value of $71,240.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 6,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,215.64. The trade was a 17.21 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 3,450 shares of company stock valued at $245,813 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albany International

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in Albany International by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,592,787 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $218,961,000 after purchasing an additional 53,743 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Albany International by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,218,058 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $108,544,000 after buying an additional 36,944 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Albany International by 24.0% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 847,829 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $75,330,000 after buying an additional 163,934 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Albany International by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 715,779 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $63,609,000 after buying an additional 8,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Albany International by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 586,268 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $52,071,000 after acquiring an additional 36,274 shares during the period. 97.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Albany International

Albany International Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the machine clothing and engineered composites businesses. The company operates in two segments, Machine Clothing (MC) and Albany Engineered Composites (AEC). The MC segment designs, manufactures, and markets paper machine clothing for use in the manufacturing of papers, paperboards, tissues, towels, pulps, nonwovens, building products, tannery, and textiles, as well as fiber cement and several other industrial applications.