Bank of New York Mellon Corp Acquires 33,084 Shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 71.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 79,631 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 33,084 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.68% of Kadant worth $26,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KAI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,218,273 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $420,292,000 after acquiring an additional 243,267 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 97.9% during the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 221,209 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $74,528,000 after acquiring an additional 109,439 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Kadant by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 156,358 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,985,000 after buying an additional 26,067 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Kadant by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 154,466 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,289,000 after buying an additional 8,030 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the fourth quarter worth $46,529,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of KAI traded up $12.51 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $335.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 90,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 117,258. The company has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.60 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $318.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $336.68. Kadant Inc has a 52-week low of $281.30 and a 52-week high of $429.95.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $239.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $239.41 million. Kadant had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Kadant's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Kadant's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on KAI. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kadant from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research report on Thursday, May 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.