Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 17,108 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 191,397 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 17,108 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 1.63% of Kadant worth $66,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in KAI. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 267.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 103 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in Kadant during the fourth quarter worth $160,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently 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. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday.

Kadant Price Performance

Kadant stock traded up $5.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $300.16. 120,107 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 108,331. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $333.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $356.78. Kadant Inc. has a twelve month low of $259.20 and a twelve month high of $429.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.66 and a beta of 1.24.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Kadant had a net margin of 10.59% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The business had revenue of $239.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.41 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.38 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.34 dividend. This is a boost from Kadant's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Kadant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.35%.

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.