Short Interest in Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) Decreases By 13.2%

Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 457,100 shares, a drop of 13.2% from the February 13th total of 526,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 194,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Albany International Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of AIN stock traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $74.45. 3,304 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 177,180. Albany International has a fifty-two week low of $67.39 and a fifty-two week high of $96.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 3.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.28 and a beta of 1.37.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The textile maker reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.05). Albany International had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 7.92%. The business had revenue of $286.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $299.52 million. Equities analysts expect that Albany International will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. Albany International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AIN. TD Cowen raised Albany International to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Albany International from $104.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Albany International from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com cut Albany International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Albany International from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Albany International by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,218,058 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $108,544,000 after purchasing an additional 36,944 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Albany International by 14.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 80,618 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $7,163,000 after purchasing an additional 9,931 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Albany International by 5.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 239,697 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $21,297,000 after purchasing an additional 12,262 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Albany International by 6.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 586,268 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $52,071,000 after purchasing an additional 36,274 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Albany International by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 715,779 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $63,609,000 after purchasing an additional 8,356 shares during the period. 97.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.