Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Shares Gap Down to $273.79

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $273.79, but opened at $260.01. Kadant shares last traded at $257.72, with a volume of 15,549 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KAI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Kadant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research report on Monday.

Kadant Trading Down 4.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.42 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $310.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $282.45.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $248.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.56 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 12.12%. The firm's revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kadant Inc. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Kadant's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kadant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kadant news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 881 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total value of $288,087.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Kadant news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 881 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total value of $288,087.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total transaction of $70,266.77. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,587,814.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,798 shares of company stock worth $2,899,004. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Kadant

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. purchased a new position in Kadant during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Kadant by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Kadant by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 185 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company's stock.

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.