Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) Short Interest Up 29.8% in March

Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 593,500 shares, a growth of 29.8% from the February 28th total of 457,100 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 226,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Albany International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIN traded down $0.24 during trading on Monday, reaching $69.14. 316,265 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 197,331. The company has a quick ratio of 2.94, a current ratio of 3.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Albany International has a fifty-two week low of $67.39 and a fifty-two week high of $95.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.00. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61 and a beta of 1.37.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The textile maker reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $286.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $299.52 million. Albany International had a net margin of 7.92% and a return on equity of 12.20%. As a group, analysts predict that Albany International will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Albany International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. Albany International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AIN shares. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Albany International from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Albany International from $104.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen upgraded Albany International to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Albany International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Albany International from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.00.

Institutional Trading of Albany International

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Albany International by 3,050.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,363,946 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $109,075,000 after buying an additional 1,320,654 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Albany International by 3,380.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 849,379 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $67,925,000 after acquiring an additional 824,975 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Albany International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,181,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Albany International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,044,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Albany International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,349,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.37% of the company’s stock.

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.