Fmr LLC Cuts Holdings in Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN)

Fmr LLC lowered its holdings in Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) by 81.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,636 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 11,769 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Albany International were worth $234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AIN. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albany International by 33.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 899 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in Albany International by 28.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,058 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in Albany International by 40.3% in the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,985 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $176,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Albany International in the third quarter worth about $206,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Albany International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $245,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.37% of the company’s stock.

Albany International Price Performance

NYSE:AIN opened at $81.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.37 and a beta of 1.34. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.65. Albany International Corp. has a 1 year low of $67.39 and a 1 year high of $99.41.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The textile maker reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.35. Albany International had a net margin of 7.92% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The firm had revenue of $298.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $304.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Albany International Corp. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Albany International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. This is an increase from Albany International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Albany International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Albany International from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America decreased 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 report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen raised shares of Albany International to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Albany International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.50.

Insider Activity

In other Albany International news, SVP Robert Alan Hansen purchased 1,050 shares of Albany International stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $71.26 per share, for a total transaction of $74,823.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now owns 8,387 shares in the company, valued at $597,657.62. This trade represents a 14.31 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Joseph M. Gaug purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 3,450 shares of company stock valued at $245,813. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Albany International Profile

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.