Albany International (NYSE:AIN) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Albany International (NYSE:AIN - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut their price target on Albany International from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Albany International from $104.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Albany International from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.00.

Albany International Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of AIN stock opened at $65.85 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $57.71 and a 1-year high of $95.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.58 and a beta of 1.37. The business's fifty day moving average price is $66.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.46.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The textile maker reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.15. Albany International had a net margin of 7.92% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The firm had revenue of $288.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.74 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Albany International 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 Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Albany International's payout ratio is currently 43.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AIN. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Albany International by 2,241.2% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 398 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Albany International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Albany International by 306.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 667 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albany International by 735.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 752 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in Albany International during the 4th quarter worth $70,000. 97.37% of the stock is 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.