Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Shares Bought by Sheets Smith Wealth Management

Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Kadant were worth $772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Kadant by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 314,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,355,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Kadant by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,066 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $902,000 after acquiring an additional 1,752 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in Kadant by 226.2% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant during the second quarter valued at approximately $176,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Kadant by 28.4% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 75,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,035,000 after purchasing an additional 16,595 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barrington Research raised their target price on Kadant from $360.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Insider Transactions at Kadant

In other news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $398.21, for a total value of $60,527.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,250 shares in the company, valued at $1,692,392.50. This trade represents a 3.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,848.25. The trade was a 29.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,052 shares of company stock worth $416,655. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Performance

Kadant stock opened at $375.98 on Wednesday. Kadant Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.51 and a 52 week 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 $4.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.48 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $375.52 and a 200-day moving average of $344.15.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Kadant had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The company had revenue of $271.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $266.38 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.