Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC reduced its stake in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 442,883 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 32,524 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 3.76% of Kadant worth $149,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Kadant during the 1st quarter valued at $111,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in Kadant during the 1st quarter worth about $2,192,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kadant by 97.9% in the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 221,209 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $74,528,000 after acquiring an additional 109,439 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Kadant by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 695 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kadant in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on KAI shares. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Kadant from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st.

Kadant Stock Down 0.1%

Kadant stock traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $313.84. The company had a trading volume of 154,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 115,393. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $312.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $339.58. Kadant Inc has a 12 month low of $281.30 and a 12 month high of $429.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.32 and a beta of 1.26.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.13. Kadant had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 10.63%. The business had revenue of $239.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.41 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Kadant's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.44%.

Kadant announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are 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.