Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 27,000 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 27.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,079 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 27,000 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.62% of Kadant worth $24,621,000 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. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Kadant by 267.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 103 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Kadant by 348.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 242 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Kadant during the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Kadant by 1,289.5% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Kadant by 924.5% during the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 543 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KAI shares. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kadant from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th.

Kadant Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE KAI traded down $8.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $314.38. The stock had a trading volume of 101,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 114,330. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.29. Kadant Inc. has a 1 year low of $276.62 and a 1 year high of $429.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $312.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $345.86. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.16 and a beta of 1.26.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $239.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $239.41 million. Kadant had a net margin of 10.59% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Kadant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.44%.

Kadant announced that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 repurchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.