Albany International (NYSE:AIN) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) shares gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $73.98, but opened at $72.30. Albany International shares last traded at $73.88, with a volume of 8,400 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AIN. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Albany International from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Albany International from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Albany International to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Albany International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.00.

Albany International Trading Down 0.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $79.04 and its 200 day moving average is $80.22. 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 (NYSE:AIN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The textile maker reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $286.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $299.52 million. Albany International had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 7.92%. Equities analysts predict that Albany International Corp. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Albany International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. Albany International’s payout ratio is presently 38.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albany International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AIN. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of 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. grew its holdings in shares of Albany International by 3,380.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 849,379 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $67,925,000 after purchasing an additional 824,975 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Albany International during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,181,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Albany International during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,044,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Albany International during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,349,000. 97.37% of the stock is currently 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.