Vestcor Inc Acquires Shares of 876 Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN)

Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 876 shares of the textile maker’s stock, valued at approximately $70,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its holdings in Albany International by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,825 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Albany International by 28.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,058 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its position in shares of Albany International by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,305 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Albany International by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,004 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Albany International by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,157 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,372,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.37% of the company’s stock.

Albany International Stock Performance

AIN opened at $73.90 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.68, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $78.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.95. Albany International Corp. has a twelve month low of $67.39 and a twelve month high of $96.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 23.09 and a beta of 1.37.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The textile maker reported $0.58 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, sell-side analysts expect that Albany International Corp. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albany International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. Albany International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Albany International 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.