Intech Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 2,384 Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 2,384 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KAI. F M Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Kadant in the 2nd quarter worth $13,495,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant in the third quarter worth about $11,206,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Kadant by 87.4% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 47,219 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,872,000 after buying an additional 22,020 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Kadant during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,847,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Kadant by 28.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 75,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,035,000 after acquiring an additional 16,595 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE KAI opened at $412.79 on Friday. Kadant Inc. has a one year low of $249.51 and a one year high of $429.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $354.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $321.01. The company has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.25 and a beta of 1.21. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 company earned $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Kadant’s payout ratio is 13.10%.

Insider Transactions at Kadant

In other Kadant news, VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.25, for a total transaction of $238,350.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,848.25. This represents a 29.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,433,950. This represents a 32.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,052 shares of company stock valued at $1,091,455 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

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.