ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC Sells 2,288 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC lowered its position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,115 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,288 shares during the period. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC owned about 0.10% of Kadant worth $4,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KAI. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in Kadant by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Kadant by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,187 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 5,256 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 1.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,510 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,483,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Kadant by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,226 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on KAI. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

Kadant Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE KAI traded up $2.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $290.69. 101,213 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 108,241. The business has a 50 day moving average of $328.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $356.18. Kadant Inc. has a 1 year low of $266.23 and a 1 year high of $429.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.66 and a beta of 1.30.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $239.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.41 million. Kadant had a net margin of 10.59% and a return on equity of 14.66%. Kadant's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Kadant's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Kadant's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.44%.

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.