West Coast Financial LLC Trims Position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

West Coast Financial LLC trimmed its position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 9.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,003 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 513 shares during the quarter. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $1,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of KAI. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kadant during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its stake in Kadant by 68.6% in the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 204 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Kadant by 31,600.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 1st quarter worth approximately $141,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KAI. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

Insider Transactions at Kadant

In related news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total value of $674,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,433,950. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Up 2.5 %

KAI traded up $8.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $328.33. 9,713 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 83,076. Kadant Inc. has a 12-month low of $214.21 and a 12-month high of $363.40. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $316.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $304.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.97 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Kadant Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.17%.

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.