Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN - Free Report) by 78.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,071 shares of the textile maker's stock after selling 7,353 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Albany International were worth $165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Albany International by 306.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 667 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Albany International by 735.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in Albany International in the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Albany International by 110.4% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 888 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Albany International in the 4th quarter valued at about $88,000. 97.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AIN shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Albany International from $104.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Albany International from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Albany International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Albany International from $65.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Albany International Trading Up 1.2%

AIN traded up $0.80 on Thursday, reaching $66.65. 21,888 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 233,191. The company's 50 day moving average is $66.05 and its 200-day moving average is $75.07. The company has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83 and a beta of 1.37. Albany International Corp. has a twelve month low of $57.71 and a twelve month high of $95.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a current ratio of 3.68.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $288.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.74 million. Albany International had a net margin of 7.92% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The company's revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Albany International Corp. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Albany International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Albany International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.55%.

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.