Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 6,831 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 28.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,022 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,831 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.14% of Kadant worth $5,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of KAI. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Kadant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $193,595,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Kadant by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,218,273 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $420,292,000 after purchasing an additional 243,267 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at $46,529,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at $39,400,000. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at $38,560,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on KAI shares. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of Kadant stock traded up $2.88 during trading on Thursday, reaching $326.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 50,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 110,725. The business's 50-day moving average price is $321.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $355.64. The firm has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36 and a beta of 1.30. Kadant Inc. has a 52 week low of $266.23 and a 52 week 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.

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

Kadant Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 9th. This is an increase 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.