Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) Shares Sold by King Luther Capital Management Corp

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its stake in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 22.2%, now holding 4,970 shares valued at approximately $1.67 million.
• Kadant has initiated a $50 million stock buyback plan, allowing it to repurchase up to 1.3% of its outstanding shares, indicating leadership believes shares are undervalued.
• The company reported EPS of $2.31 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, but experienced a 7.3% year-over-year revenue decline.

King Luther Capital Management Corp trimmed its position in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 22.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,970 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,422 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp's holdings in Kadant were worth $1,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kadant in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Kadant by 50.0% in the first quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 150 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 348.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 242 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Kadant in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Kadant by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 442 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kadant Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE:KAI traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $340.73. 87,973 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 144,425. Kadant Inc has a twelve month low of $281.30 and a twelve month high of $429.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $327.17 and a 200 day moving average of $333.45. The stock has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of 38.06 and a beta of 1.24.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $255.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.99 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 10.34%. Kadant's revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Kadant from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kadant from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th.

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.