Albany International (NYSE:AIN) Hits New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $64.63 and last traded at $65.27, with a volume of 96737 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.94.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AIN has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Albany International from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Albany International from $104.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Albany International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen raised shares of Albany International to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Albany International from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.00.

Albany International Trading Down 5.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.24 and a beta of 1.37. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.58.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The textile maker reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $286.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.52 million. Albany International had a net margin of 7.92% and a return on equity of 12.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Albany International Corp. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Albany International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Albany International’s payout ratio is 38.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Albany International during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Quarry LP grew its position in Albany International by 515.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 480 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Albany International by 306.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 667 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Albany International by 735.6% during the 4th 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. Finally, Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in shares of Albany International in the fourth quarter worth $70,000. 97.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.