Hilltop National Bank Purchases New Shares in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 75 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Kadant by 1.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 144,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 196.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 32,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,985,000 after buying an additional 21,545 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Kadant by 133.3% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,066 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $902,000 after buying an additional 1,752 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Kadant by 120.1% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Kadant by 16.1% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barrington Research increased their target price on shares of Kadant from $360.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kadant news, Director Rebecca Martinez O’mara sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.59, for a total value of $117,777.00. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,848.25. The trade was a 29.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,052 shares of company stock worth $416,655 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE KAI opened at $340.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 34.84 and a beta of 1.28. Kadant Inc. has a one year low of $249.51 and a one year high of $429.95. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $378.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $340.37.

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

Kadant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. Kadant’s payout ratio is 13.10%.

Kadant Company 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.