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

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Albany International by 515.4% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 480 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Albany International in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised 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 valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Albany International by 735.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 752 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in shares of Albany International in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $70,000. 97.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albany International Stock Performance

NYSE AIN traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $71.16. The company had a trading volume of 130,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 197,537. The business has a 50 day moving average of $76.97 and a 200-day moving average of $78.89. The company has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24 and a beta of 1.37. Albany International has a 1-year low of $67.39 and a 1-year high of $95.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a current ratio of 3.68.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 7.92%. The firm had revenue of $286.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.52 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Albany International will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Albany International Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AIN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America cut their target price 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. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Albany International from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. StockNews.com cut Albany International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Albany International to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albany International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.00.

Albany International Company Profile

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.