Albany International (NYSE:AIN) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

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

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Albany International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen upgraded Albany International to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial increased their price target 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. lowered their price objective on shares of Albany International from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.75.

Albany International Price Performance

Shares of AIN opened at $80.90 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $81.39 and a 200-day moving average of $83.03. Albany International has a 1 year low of $67.39 and a 1 year high of $98.73. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28 and a beta of 1.35. 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 (NYSE:AIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The textile maker reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.35. Albany International had a net margin of 7.92% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The firm had revenue of $298.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $304.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Albany International will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Albany International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from Albany International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Albany International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Albany International news, VP Joseph M. Gaug purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $71.24 per share, with a total value of $71,240.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,811 shares in the company, valued at $485,215.64. The trade was a 17.21 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gunnar Kleveland acquired 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $71.25 per share, with a total value of $99,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 8,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $590,235. This represents a 20.34 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 3,450 shares of company stock worth $245,813 over the last quarter. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Albany International in the 4th quarter valued at $1,675,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Albany International by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,495 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albany International by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,610 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Albany International by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,014 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Albany International by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,004 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.37% of the company’s stock.

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.