Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Releases Q4 Earnings Guidance

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) issued an update on its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.90-2.10 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $2.31. The company issued revenue guidance of $252-260 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $263.09 million. Kadant also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 9.930-10.130 EPS.

Kadant Trading Up 4.7 %

Kadant stock traded up $15.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $335.71. 102,699 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 80,891. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Kadant has a 52-week low of $217.85 and a 52-week high of $363.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $322.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $305.09.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $271.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $266.38 million. Kadant had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 15.48%. Kadant’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Kadant will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. Kadant’s payout ratio is 13.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on KAI shares. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kadant

In other news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $674,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,250 shares in the company, valued at $1,433,950. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.