Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $377.00 and last traded at $377.00, with a volume of 345 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $359.74.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KAI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st.

Kadant Trading Up 7.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $325.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $307.13. The firm has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.82 and a beta of 1.21.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $271.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $266.38 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 11.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total value of $674,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,250 shares in the company, valued at $1,433,950. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KAI. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Kadant in the third quarter worth $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kadant during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Park Place Capital Corp grew 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 valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter valued at about $74,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Kadant by 226.2% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Company 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.