DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Cuts Stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale decreased its position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 49.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,858 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 25,000 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.22% of Kadant worth $7,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 70.4% in the 1st quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 138 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Kadant Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE KAI traded up $0.49 on Thursday, reaching $297.49. The company had a trading volume of 58,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 96,264. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.05. Kadant Inc. has a 1-year low of $183.19 and a 1-year high of $354.02. The company's fifty day moving average is $317.80 and its 200-day moving average is $276.36.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $238.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $227.54 million. Kadant had a net margin of 12.12% and a return on equity of 16.20%. On average, research analysts forecast that Kadant Inc. will post 9.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. This is an increase from Kadant's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Kadant's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KAI. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kadant from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th.

Insider Transactions at Kadant

In other news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total transaction of $228,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $288,087. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total transaction of $228,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $288,087. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 11,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,587,814.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,798 shares of company stock worth $2,899,004 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% 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.