Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Given Outperform Rating at Barrington Research

Key Points

• Barrington Research has reiterated Kadant's stock rating as "outperform", with a target price of $380.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.19%.
• Kadant reported Q1 earnings of $2.10 per share, beating estimates but showing a 3.9% year-over-year decline in revenue.
• The company has initiated a $50 million stock buyback plan, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Barrington Research reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $380.00 target price on the industrial products company's stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on KAI. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kadant from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. DA Davidson decreased 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.

Kadant Trading Down 2.8%

KAI traded down $9.30 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $323.47. 117,867 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 148,313. The company has a current ratio of 8.17, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Kadant has a 1 year low of $281.30 and a 1 year high of $429.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $323.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $336.14. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.02 and a beta of 1.25.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.81 earnings per share. Kadant's revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Kadant will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 15th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Kadant's dividend payout ratio is 15.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KAI. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kadant during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Maseco LLP bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Kadant by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 150 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Kadant by 55.4% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 174 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.