Albany International (NYSE:AIN) Shares Climb 9% After Analyst Upgrade

Albany International Corporation (NYSE:AIN) traded up 9% during trading on Monday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $72.57 and last traded at $73.0010. 156,956 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 271,524 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Albany International from $64.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Albany International from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Albany International from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Albany International from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albany International presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albany International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Albany International by 18.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,043,579 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $54,485,000 after purchasing an additional 160,370 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Albany International by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 786,470 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $41,062,000 after buying an additional 10,878 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in Albany International by 199.8% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 644,605 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $33,655,000 after buying an additional 429,561 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Albany International by 88.5% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 281,703 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $14,708,000 after buying an additional 132,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Albany International by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 139,739 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $7,296,000 after acquiring an additional 2,776 shares in the last quarter. 97.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albany International Trading Up 9.3%

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $60.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.66, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.41.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The textile maker reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $349.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.12 million. Albany International had a net margin of 6.73% and a return on equity of 14.25%. The company’s revenue was up 33.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Albany International Corporation will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albany International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Albany International’s payout ratio is 36.25%.

Albany International Company Profile

Albany International Corporation is an advanced materials and engineered products company serving the paper, aerospace and defense industries. Founded in 1895, the company develops and manufactures specialized textiles, composite materials and related process technologies for industrial applications.

Albany International operates through two primary businesses. Its Machine Clothing segment produces engineered fabrics and process belts used in paper manufacturing, including forming fabrics, press felts, dryer fabrics and other products that support papermaking efficiency and quality.