OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Acquires Shares of 2,000 Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new stake in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $690,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Kadant by 267.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 103 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter worth $85,000. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter worth $160,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Kadant by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 504 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kadant by 1,289.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on KAI. Wall Street Zen lowered Kadant from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KAI traded down $3.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $305.89. The company had a trading volume of 113,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 112,094. Kadant Inc. has a 12-month low of $266.23 and a 12-month high of $429.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The company has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $316.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $354.55.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $239.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.41 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.59%. The business's revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Kadant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.44%.

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.

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.