Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases 1,916 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 123.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,470 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,916 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Kadant were worth $1,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KAI. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at $709,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Kadant by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 848 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Kadant by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 7,078 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,442,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Kadant during the 4th quarter valued at about $318,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at about $819,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KAI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research note on Thursday.

Kadant Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Kadant stock traded down $6.53 during trading on Monday, hitting $293.58. 140,153 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 108,074. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $330.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $356.65. Kadant Inc. has a twelve month low of $266.23 and a twelve month high of $429.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.97 and a beta of 1.30. 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 (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $239.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.41 million. Kadant had a net margin of 10.59% and a return on equity of 14.66%. Kadant's quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.38 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This is a positive change from Kadant's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Kadant's payout ratio is presently 14.44%.

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.