Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) Short Interest Up 9.1% in October

Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 315,800 shares, a growth of 9.1% from the September 30th total of 289,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 170,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Albany International from $95.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Albany International from $101.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Albany International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.50.

Albany International Stock Down 4.1 %

Albany International stock traded down $2.89 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $67.86. 438,010 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 155,597. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $82.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.48. The company has a current ratio of 3.59, a quick ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.25. Albany International has a one year low of $67.39 and a one year high of $99.41.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The textile maker reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.35. Albany International had a return on equity of 13.13% and a net margin of 8.76%. The business had revenue of $298.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $304.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.02 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Albany International will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Albany International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Albany International’s payout ratio is currently 29.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albany International

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in Albany International by 26.8% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,750 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $818,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Albany International by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 25,779 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $2,411,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Albany International by 94.7% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 547 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Albany International in the 1st quarter worth $128,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its holdings in Albany International by 201.8% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 9,878 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 6,605 shares during the period. 97.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.