Albany International (NYSE:AIN) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of Albany International (NYSE:AIN) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Albany International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America dropped 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. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Albany International from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albany International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.50.

Albany International Stock Up 2.5 %

Albany International stock opened at $79.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.71. 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 fifty-two week low of $67.39 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The textile maker reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $298.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $304.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albany International will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Albany International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. This is an increase from Albany International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Albany International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gunnar Kleveland bought 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 approximately $590,235. This trade represents a 20.34 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Joseph M. Gaug acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $71.24 per share, for a total transaction of $71,240.00. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 6,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,215.64. This trade represents a 17.21 % increase in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albany International

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Albany International by 3.0% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 5,018 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Albany International by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 8,744 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Albany International by 1.3% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 15,700 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Albany International by 0.4% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 52,600 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $4,442,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Albany International by 5.4% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,212 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. 97.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.