Albany International (NYSE:AIN) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at TD Cowen

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

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Bank of America decreased their target price on Albany International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Albany International from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Albany International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albany International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.50.

Albany International Price Performance

Shares of Albany International stock opened at $81.18 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.65. Albany International has a 12-month low of $67.39 and a 12-month high of $99.41. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of 25.37 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 3.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The textile maker reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $298.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $304.51 million. Albany International had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 7.92%. Albany International’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Albany International will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Albany International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from Albany International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Albany International’s payout ratio is currently 33.75%.

Insider Activity at Albany International

In other Albany International news, VP Joseph M. Gaug bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was 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. This represents a 17.21 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Gunnar Kleveland purchased 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $71.25 per share, for a total transaction of $99,750.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 8,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $590,235. The trade was a 20.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 3,450 shares of company stock valued at $245,813. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albany International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Albany International by 2.1% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,592,787 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $218,961,000 after acquiring an additional 53,743 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Albany International by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,218,058 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $108,544,000 after buying an additional 36,944 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Albany International by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,091,660 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $92,192,000 after buying an additional 52,909 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albany International by 24.0% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 847,829 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $75,330,000 after acquiring an additional 163,934 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Albany International by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 726,287 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $61,335,000 after acquiring an additional 24,430 shares in the last quarter. 97.37% of the stock is currently 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.