Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 23.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,669 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 702 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Kadant were worth $1,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Kadant by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,218,273 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $420,292,000 after buying an additional 243,267 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at $46,529,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Kadant during the 4th quarter worth about $39,400,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kadant by 97.9% in the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 221,209 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $74,528,000 after purchasing an additional 109,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities research analysts have issued reports on KAI shares. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kadant from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price 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.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Kadant
Kadant Trading Down 2.8%
NYSE KAI traded down $9.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $323.47. 117,867 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 112,881. The business's 50 day moving average is $324.23 and its 200-day moving average is $335.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 8.17. Kadant Inc has a 12-month low of $281.30 and a 12-month high of $429.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.02 and a beta of 1.24.
Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.37. Kadant had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 12.62%. The company had revenue of $255.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.81 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Kadant Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Kadant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.14%.
Kadant announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
About Kadant
(
Free Report)
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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