Albany International (NYSE:AIN) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Albany International (NYSE:AIN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Albany International from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Albany International from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Albany International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Albany International from $104.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen raised Albany International to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.00.

Albany International Stock Performance

Albany International stock opened at $76.58 on Friday. 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 has a 1 year low of $67.39 and a 1 year high of $97.60. The company has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of 23.93 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $80.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.46.

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

Albany International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Albany International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albany International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIN. Creative Planning boosted its position in Albany International by 18.4% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,941 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 923 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Albany International by 16.4% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,025 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Albany International by 6.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 586,268 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $52,071,000 after purchasing an additional 36,274 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Albany International during the third quarter worth $206,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Albany International during the third quarter worth $245,000. 97.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.