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

Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN)’s stock price 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Albany International from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price 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. TD Cowen raised shares of Albany International to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Albany International from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Albany International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.00.

Albany International Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 2.94 and a current ratio of 3.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $79.04 and its 200-day moving average is $80.22.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $286.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.52 million. Albany International had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 7.92%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Albany International Corp. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albany International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. Albany International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Albany International during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Albany International by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 55,640 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $4,450,000 after buying an additional 9,492 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Albany International by 88.9% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 105,991 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $8,476,000 after buying an additional 49,873 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Albany International during the fourth quarter worth about $4,304,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Albany International by 44.5% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,408 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $752,000 after purchasing an additional 2,897 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.