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

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Albany International from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. TD Cowen raised Albany International to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Albany International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Albany International from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.75.

Albany International Price Performance

Albany International stock traded down $0.51 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $80.76. 180,269 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 193,991. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.05. The company has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.24 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 3.68, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Albany International has a twelve month low of $67.39 and a twelve month high of $98.73.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The textile maker reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.35. Albany International had a net margin of 7.92% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The business had revenue of $298.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $304.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Albany International will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Albany International

In related news, VP Joseph M. Gaug bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $71.24 per share, with a total value of $71,240.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,215.64. This trade represents a 17.21 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Alan Hansen bought 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $71.26 per share, for a total transaction of $74,823.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $597,657.62. This trade represents a 14.31 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 3,450 shares of company stock worth $245,813. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albany International

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Albany International by 515.4% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 480 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Albany International by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 899 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Albany International by 28.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,058 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its stake in Albany International by 40.3% during the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,985 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Albany International during the third quarter worth $206,000. 97.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.