6,404 Shares in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) Bought by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,404 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,158,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned about 0.05% of Kadant at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KAI. Yousif Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Kadant in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,475,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Kadant by 23.1% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 442 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $149,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 0.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of Kadant during the first quarter worth $2,192,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 13.1% during the fourth 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.

Kadant Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:KAI opened at $313.84 on Monday. Kadant Inc has a 52 week low of $281.30 and a 52 week high of $429.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 2.47. The firm's fifty day moving average is $312.04 and its 200-day moving average is $339.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.32 and a beta of 1.26.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Kadant had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 13.74%. The business had revenue of $239.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $239.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Kadant's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson decreased 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Kadant from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st.

Kadant 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.

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