Royce & Associates LP Sells 35,689 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Royce & Associates LP reduced its position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 205,629 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 35,689 shares during the period. Kadant comprises 0.7% of Royce & Associates LP’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Royce & Associates LP owned about 1.75% of Kadant worth $70,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Impact Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kadant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $704,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Kadant by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 23,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,969,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kadant by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,098 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,040,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Performance

NYSE:KAI opened at $352.23 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.15 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $368.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $357.73.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.17. Kadant had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.59%. Research analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This is a boost from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research note on Friday, February 14th.

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.