Trust Point Inc. Cuts Holdings in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Trust Point Inc. lessened its stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 47.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,865 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,698 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc.'s holdings in Kadant were worth $628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $420,292,000 after purchasing an additional 243,267 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at $46,529,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at $39,400,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 150,885.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 81,532 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $27,469,000 after purchasing an additional 81,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 156,358 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,985,000 after purchasing an additional 26,067 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Kadant Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:KAI opened at $320.22 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $313.23 and a 200 day moving average of $344.81. Kadant Inc. has a 52 week low of $276.62 and a 52 week high of $429.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78 and a beta of 1.26.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.13. Kadant had a net margin of 10.59% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The company had revenue of $239.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.41 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.38 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Kadant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KAI. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kadant from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson cut 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.

Kadant 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.

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