Edgestream Partners L.P. Boosts Stock Position in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI)

Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 238.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,033 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,119 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned 0.17% of Kadant worth $6,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Kadant by 267.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 103 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Kadant by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,098 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Kadant by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 23,100 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,969,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter worth $378,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Kadant by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 4,888 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,686,000 after buying an additional 2,504 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KAI. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kadant from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on 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 set a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Thursday, May 1st.

Kadant Price Performance

KAI traded down $3.69 during trading on Friday, hitting $330.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 76,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 150,298. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Kadant Inc has a twelve month low of $281.30 and a twelve month high of $429.95. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $319.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $336.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.13 and a beta of 1.25.

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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.41 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 10.63%. Kadant's quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

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