Atria Investments Inc Grows Holdings in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 4.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,564 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 252 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Kadant were worth $1,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the third quarter worth approximately $111,000. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $237,000. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Kadant by 6.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,933 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $653,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its holdings in Kadant by 1.1% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 71,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $24,165,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Kadant by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on KAI. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of KAI stock opened at $391.88 on Friday. Kadant Inc. has a one year low of $249.51 and a one year high of $422.54. The company has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.11 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $338.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $312.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $271.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $266.38 million. Kadant had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Kadant’s payout ratio is 13.10%.

Insider Activity at Kadant

In other Kadant news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,433,950. The trade was a 32.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.