Hardy Reed LLC Acquires New Shares in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Hardy Reed LLC bought a new position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KAI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kadant by 46.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 967,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $317,482,000 after buying an additional 306,352 shares during the last quarter. F M Investments LLC bought a new stake in Kadant in the second quarter worth approximately $13,495,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter worth $11,206,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kadant by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 122,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,447,000 after purchasing an additional 31,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 87.4% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 47,219 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,872,000 after purchasing an additional 22,020 shares during the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kadant Stock Performance

NYSE:KAI opened at $423.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.97 billion, a PE ratio of 43.32 and a beta of 1.21. Kadant Inc. has a 1 year low of $249.51 and a 1 year high of $429.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $349.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $318.89.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $271.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $266.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KAI has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.