Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Invests $1.32 Million in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new position in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,915 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,319,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KAI. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kadant by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 845 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter worth approximately $828,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kadant by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,557 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kadant by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,218,273 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $420,292,000 after purchasing an additional 243,267 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Kadant by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 83,717 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,882,000 after purchasing an additional 18,995 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KAI. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kadant from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th.

Kadant Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE KAI traded up $5.58 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $344.94. 82,476 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 106,070. Kadant Inc has a 12-month low of $281.30 and a 12-month high of $429.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $321.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $336.13. The firm has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.62 and a beta of 1.25.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.13. Kadant had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 13.74%. The business had revenue of $239.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $239.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Kadant's payout ratio is presently 14.44%.

Kadant announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding 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 generally a sign that the company's board of directors 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.