Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) Short Interest Up 22.2% in October

Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 386,000 shares, a growth of 22.2% from the October 15th total of 315,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 198,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Albany International Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AIN traded down $0.43 on Friday, reaching $80.09. 262,587 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 282,420. The company has a quick ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 3.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.66. Albany International has a 12 month low of $67.39 and a 12 month high of $99.41. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.29.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The textile maker reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.35. Albany International had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 7.92%. The company had revenue of $298.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $304.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Albany International will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albany International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Albany International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Joseph M. Gaug acquired 1,000 shares of Albany International stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were 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 owns 6,811 shares in the company, valued at $485,215.64. This trade represents a 17.21 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gunnar Kleveland bought 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $71.25 per share, with a total value of $99,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 8,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $590,235. This trade represents a 20.34 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 3,450 shares of company stock valued at $245,813 over the last ninety days. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albany International

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in Albany International in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $679,000. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Albany International during the third quarter valued at $800,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Albany International by 29.7% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 100,528 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $8,490,000 after buying an additional 23,018 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Albany International by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,529,478 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $330,041,000 after buying an additional 11,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in Albany International by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 28,687 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $2,677,000 after buying an additional 2,367 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AIN shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Albany International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Albany International from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America dropped their price target on Albany International from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Albany International from $95.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.50.

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.