Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Sells 12,884 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. cut its stake in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 40.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,944 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 12,884 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.16% of Kadant worth $6,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Kadant during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $464,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 54.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 504 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 121,686 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,980,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 87.1% during the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 1,590 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kadant by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,132 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,460,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the period. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on KAI shares. DA Davidson dropped their price target on 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 restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KAI traded up $3.06 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $326.26. 50,765 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 110,729. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36 and a beta of 1.30. Kadant Inc. has a one year low of $266.23 and a one year high of $429.95. The company's 50 day moving average is $321.42 and its 200 day moving average is $355.64.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company's quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 9th. This is a positive change from Kadant's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Kadant's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.44%.

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.