Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 661,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,885 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.06% of Kadant worth $185,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kadant during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Kadant by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Kadant by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in Kadant in the fourth quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant in the fourth quarter worth $94,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Erin L. Russell sold 1,112 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.25, for a total transaction of $310,526.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,061,708.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kadant Stock Up 1.0 %

Kadant stock opened at $293.24 on Wednesday. Kadant Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.99 and a 12 month high of $354.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $280.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $292.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.55 and a beta of 1.24.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $248.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.56 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 11.53%. Kadant’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Kadant Inc. will post 10.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KAI shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kadant in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th.

Kadant Profile

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.