Short Interest in Albany International Corporation (NYSE:AIN) Drops By 27.9%

Key Points

• Short interest in Albany International Corporation decreased by 27.9% in September, with total short interest down to 591,300 shares, representing 2.0% of the company’s shares.
• Hedge funds and institutional investors collectively own 97.37% of Albany International's stock, with notable recent acquisitions, including Nuveen LLC's new position worth approximately $18.98 million.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Hold" on the stock, with a target price averaging $65.50, while JPMorgan Chase increased their target price to $63.00.

Albany International Corporation (NYSE:AIN - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 591,300 shares, a decline of 27.9% from the September 15th total of 820,300 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 300,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 300,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albany International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albany International in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $18,985,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Albany International during the 1st quarter worth approximately $407,000. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Albany International during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,740,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Albany International by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 69,301 shares of the textile maker's stock worth $4,785,000 after purchasing an additional 3,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Albany International during the 1st quarter worth approximately $416,000. 97.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Albany International from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $55.00 target price (down previously from $70.00) on shares of Albany International in a report on Friday, August 1st. Baird R W downgraded shares of Albany International from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Albany International from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $79.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Albany International in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Albany International has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.50.

Albany International Price Performance

Shares of Albany International stock opened at $57.24 on Thursday. Albany International has a twelve month low of $50.60 and a twelve month high of $88.13. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 3.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.36.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 25th. The textile maker reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $239.92 million during the quarter. Albany International had a net margin of 5.25% and a return on equity of 8.87%. Analysts forecast that Albany International will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Albany International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Albany International's payout ratio is presently 54.00%.

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.

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