Brown Advisory Inc. Sells 79,075 Shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI)

Brown Advisory Inc. lessened its position in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 29.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 185,784 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 79,075 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. owned approximately 1.58% of Kadant worth $62,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KAI. EULAV Asset Management lifted its holdings in Kadant by 0.9% during the first quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 33,600 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $11,320,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Kadant by 71.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 79,631 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,829,000 after purchasing an additional 33,084 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Kadant by 7.3% in the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,204 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $743,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Kadant by 809.9% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 64,893 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $21,863,000 after purchasing an additional 57,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund purchased a new position in shares of Kadant in the first quarter valued at $892,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KAI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kadant from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of KAI traded down $7.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $331.50. The stock had a trading volume of 104,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 117,312. The company's 50-day moving average is $317.02 and its 200 day moving average is $337.24. Kadant Inc has a 12-month low of $281.30 and a 12-month high of $429.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.19 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Kadant Dividend Announcement

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

Kadant declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.