Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Announces $0.32 Quarterly Dividend

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 15th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.32 per share by the industrial products company on Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th.

Kadant has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 11 years. Kadant has a dividend payout ratio of 12.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Kadant to earn $10.58 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 12.1%.

Kadant Stock Performance

NYSE:KAI traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $392.24. 80,293 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 80,742. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.29. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $336.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $312.18. Kadant has a fifty-two week low of $249.51 and a fifty-two week high of $422.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.17 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $266.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. Kadant’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kadant will post 10.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kadant

In other Kadant news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of Kadant 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,433,950. This trade represents a 32.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KAI has been the subject of several research reports. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st.

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.