Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 54,464 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the previous session’s volume of 81,514 shares.The stock last traded at $411.51 and had previously closed at $422.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Kadant Price Performance

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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $352.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $320.43. The company has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.30 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors 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 yield of 0.32%. Kadant’s payout ratio is currently 13.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kadant news, Director Rebecca Martinez O’mara sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.59, for a total transaction of $117,777.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,293 shares in the company, valued at $507,618.87. The trade was a 18.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $1,433,950. The trade was a 32.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,052 shares of company stock valued at $1,091,455. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kadant

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Kadant during the 1st quarter worth approximately $221,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in Kadant by 3,838.9% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 3,647 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Kadant by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,324 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,321,000 after acquiring an additional 2,923 shares during the period. Comerica Bank increased its position in Kadant by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 3,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Finally, Dudley & Shanley Inc. increased its position in Kadant by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 10,955 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.