Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 63.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,293 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Kadant by 60.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 64,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,876,000 after purchasing an additional 24,358 shares in the last quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. boosted its stake in Kadant by 196.7% during the third quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 32,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,985,000 after buying an additional 21,545 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Kadant by 1.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,510 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,483,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp bought a new position in Kadant in the 3rd quarter worth about $585,000. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Performance

Kadant stock opened at $366.33 on Friday. Kadant Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $249.51 and a fifty-two week high of $429.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $377.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $341.71. The stock has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.50 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.29.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.41. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 11.12%. The business had revenue of $271.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $266.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kadant

In other Kadant news, Director Rebecca Martinez O’mara sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.59, for a total transaction of $117,777.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,293 shares in the company, valued at $507,618.87. This represents a 18.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $398.21, for a total value of $60,527.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,692,392.50. This represents a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,052 shares of company stock worth $416,655 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barrington Research boosted their price objective on Kadant from $360.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

About Kadant

Kadant Inc supplies technologies and engineered systems worldwide. It operates in three segments: Flow Control, Industrial Processing, and Material Handling. The Flow Control segment develops, manufactures, and markets fluid-handling systems and equipment, such as rotary joints, syphons, turbulator bars, expansion joints, and engineered steam and condensate systems; and doctoring, cleaning, and filtration systems and related consumables consisting of doctor systems and holders, doctor blades, cleaning shower and fabric-conditioning systems, forming systems and wear surfaces, and water-filtration systems.