Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Stock Holdings in Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its position in Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,193 shares of the textile maker’s stock after selling 309 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.08% of Albany International worth $1,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in Albany International in the 4th quarter worth about $234,000. Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in shares of Albany International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $70,000. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Albany International by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 61,400 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $4,910,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Albany International by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,157 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $1,372,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Albany International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $646,000. 97.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Albany International Stock Performance

NYSE:AIN opened at $69.39 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68 and a beta of 1.37. Albany International Corp. has a 52-week low of $67.39 and a 52-week high of $95.47.

Albany International (NYSE:AIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.92% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The company had revenue of $286.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.52 million. Analysts forecast that Albany International Corp. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Albany International Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AIN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on Albany International from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Albany International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Albany International from $104.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. 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. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Albany International from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.00.

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.