Dudley & Shanley Inc. Purchases 21,545 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Dudley & Shanley Inc. raised its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 196.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 32,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,545 shares during the period. Kadant comprises about 1.7% of Dudley & Shanley Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Dudley & Shanley Inc.’s holdings in Kadant were worth $10,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Kadant by 1.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,510 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the 3rd quarter worth $585,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Kadant during the third quarter valued at about $444,000. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Kadant by 64.1% in the third quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 83,163 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,109,000 after purchasing an additional 32,491 shares during the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kadant news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $674,800.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.25, for a total transaction of $238,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,437 shares in the company, valued at $570,848.25. The trade was a 29.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,052 shares of company stock worth $1,091,455 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Up 0.5 %

KAI stock traded up $1.86 on Monday, hitting $348.93. 157,132 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 85,393. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $371.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $333.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.29. Kadant Inc. has a 12-month low of $249.51 and a 12-month high of $429.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.71 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Kadant’s payout ratio is 13.10%.

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.