Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report released on Thursday.

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

Kadant Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Kadant stock traded down $0.61 during trading on Thursday, hitting $306.40. The stock had a trading volume of 27,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 111,446. Kadant has a 12 month low of $266.23 and a 12 month high of $429.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $317.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $355.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 32.27 and a beta of 1.30.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.41 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kadant will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 15th that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kadant

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KAI. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in Kadant by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,187 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kadant by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,795 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Kadant by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 760 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Kadant by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 888 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company's stock.

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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