Gotham Asset Management LLC Raises Position in Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN)

Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) by 60.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,292 shares of the textile maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,618 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Albany International were worth $343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AIN. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Albany International by 306.7% during the fourth 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 raised its position in Albany International by 735.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in Albany International during the fourth quarter valued at about $70,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Albany International by 110.4% during the fourth 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 stake in Albany International during the fourth quarter valued at about $88,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.37% of the company’s stock.

Albany International Stock Down 2.3%

NYSE AIN opened at $67.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 3.68 and a quick ratio of 2.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20 and a beta of 1.37. Albany International Corp. has a 1 year low of $57.71 and a 1 year high of $95.47. The business’s 50-day moving average is $66.95 and its 200 day moving average is $75.53.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The textile maker reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $288.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $300.74 million. Albany International had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 7.92%. Albany International’s quarterly revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Albany International Corp. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Albany International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Albany International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on AIN. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Albany International from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Albany International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Albany International from $65.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Albany International from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.00.

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.