Northern Trust Corp Purchases 8,030 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 154,466 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,030 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.32% of Kadant worth $53,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at $193,595,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kadant by 25.0% during 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 buying an additional 243,267 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,529,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Kadant in the fourth quarter worth about $39,400,000. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kadant during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,560,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on KAI shares. DA Davidson dropped their target price 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 reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Kadant Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE KAI opened at $290.69 on Thursday. Kadant Inc. has a 1 year low of $266.23 and a 1 year high of $429.95. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $326.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $355.73. The company has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.66 and a beta of 1.30. 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 (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $239.21 million during 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 quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.38 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a positive change from Kadant's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Kadant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.44%.

Kadant Company Profile

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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