LPL Financial LLC Grows Stake in Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN)

LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN - Free Report) by 65.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,734 shares of the textile maker's stock after purchasing an additional 5,837 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Albany International were worth $1,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AIN. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albany International by 306.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 667 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in shares of Albany International during the 4th quarter worth $70,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Albany International by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,495 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in shares of Albany International by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,305 shares of the textile maker's stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albany International in the fourth quarter valued at about $226,000. 97.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albany International Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:AIN traded up $0.81 on Wednesday, reaching $63.64. The stock had a trading volume of 127,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 203,051. Albany International Corp. has a 12-month low of $57.71 and a 12-month high of $95.47. The company has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89 and a beta of 1.29. The firm's fifty day moving average is $71.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 3.68 and a quick ratio of 2.94.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN - Get Free Report) last announced 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). Albany International had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 7.92%. The firm had revenue of $286.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $299.52 million. Equities analysts expect that Albany International Corp. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albany International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. Albany International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AIN has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Albany International from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Albany International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Albany International from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Albany International from $104.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Albany International from $88.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.40.

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.