Short Interest in Albany International Corporation (NYSE:AIN) Declines By 27.9%

Albany International Corporation (NYSE:AIN) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 591,300 shares, a drop of 27.9% from the September 15th total of 820,300 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 300,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Based on an average daily volume of 300,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Albany International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIN opened at $60.52 on Friday. Albany International has a twelve month low of $50.60 and a twelve month high of $88.13. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of 30.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 3.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $58.59 and a 200-day moving average of $63.86.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 25th. The textile maker reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $239.92 million during the quarter. Albany International had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 5.25%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Albany International will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albany International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Albany International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Albany International from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Baird R W cut Albany International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird cut Albany International from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $79.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Zacks Research raised Albany International from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Albany International in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.50.

Institutional Trading of Albany International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AIN. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Albany International by 2,241.2% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 398 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Albany International by 227.3% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 540 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Albany International by 32.4% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 711 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Albany International by 42.3% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 908 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albany International during the 2nd quarter worth about $77,000. 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.