Argent Trust Co Acquires 66 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Argent Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,121 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 66 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Kadant were worth $329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kadant in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kadant by 58.2% in the fourth 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. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 31,600.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kadant during the first quarter worth $141,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a report on Friday.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of KAI stock opened at $332.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Kadant Inc. has a one year low of $214.21 and a one year high of $363.40. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $320.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $303.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 34.67 and a beta of 1.21.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $275.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $263.50 million. Kadant had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 15.48%. Kadant’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kadant Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Kadant’s payout ratio is 13.33%.

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.