Fredrik H. Westerhout Sells 600 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Stock

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.25, for a total value of $238,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,848.25. This trade represents a 29.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KAI opened at $392.76 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $343.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $315.87. The company has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.20 and a beta of 1.21. Kadant Inc. has a twelve month low of $249.51 and a twelve month high of $422.54.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $266.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. Kadant’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Kadant’s payout ratio is 13.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Kadant during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $444,000. DF Dent & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 83,163 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,109,000 after purchasing an additional 32,491 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Kadant by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 280,797 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $94,909,000 after purchasing an additional 6,412 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 1.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 130,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,036,000 after purchasing an additional 2,068 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

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.