Thomas C. Leonard Sells 2,000 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Stock

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $674,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,433,950. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Kadant Price Performance

NYSE:KAI opened at $331.43 on Wednesday. Kadant Inc. has a 52-week low of $214.21 and a 52-week high of $363.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.52 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $319.99 and a 200 day moving average of $303.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.25.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.38. Kadant had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 15.48%. The business had revenue of $275.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.50 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.54 earnings per share. Kadant’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kadant

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kadant during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kadant in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Kadant by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 31,600.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Kadant during the first quarter valued at $141,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on KAI. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a report on Friday, September 20th.

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.