Short Interest in Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) Rises By 29.8%

Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 593,500 shares, an increase of 29.8% from the February 28th total of 457,100 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 226,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albany International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Albany International in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Albany International by 515.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 480 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Albany International by 306.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 667 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Albany International by 735.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 752 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in Albany International in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.37% of the company’s stock.

Albany International Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE AIN traded up $0.96 on Wednesday, reaching $71.16. 130,391 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 197,537. Albany International has a fifty-two week low of $67.39 and a fifty-two week high of $95.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $76.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.89. The company has a current ratio of 3.68, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The textile maker reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $286.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.52 million. Albany International had a net margin of 7.92% and a return on equity of 12.20%. Analysts forecast that Albany International will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Albany International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Albany International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AIN shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Albany International from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. TD Cowen raised shares of Albany International to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Albany International from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com lowered Albany International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Albany International from $104.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.00.

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.