Jane Street Group LLC Sells 10,014 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Jane Street Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 80.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,409 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 10,014 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC's holdings in Kadant were worth $831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in Kadant during the 4th quarter worth about $464,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Kadant by 54.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 504 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kadant by 0.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in Kadant by 87.1% in the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 1,590 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on KAI shares. Wall Street Zen cut Kadant from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. 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. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of KAI traded down $5.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $317.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 112,134. Kadant Inc. has a 1-year low of $266.23 and a 1-year high of $429.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.45 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $315.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $353.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $239.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $239.41 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.59%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

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

Kadant announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.