Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Raised to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on KAI. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson cut their target price on Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Kadant Stock Up 1.9%

Kadant stock traded up $6.00 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $329.55. 77,604 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 112,760. The company's fifty day moving average price is $311.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $349.22. The company has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 34.76 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Kadant has a fifty-two week low of $269.75 and a fifty-two week high of $429.95.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $239.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.41 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.59%. Kadant's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Kadant will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kadant

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KAI. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $193,595,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $420,292,000 after acquiring an additional 243,267 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,529,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 249.0% in the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 160,800 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $54,175,000 after acquiring an additional 114,732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,400,000. 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.

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