Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID Acquires 1,748 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID boosted its holdings in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,584 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,748 shares during the quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID’s holdings in Kadant were worth $16,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Kadant by 137.9% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 82,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,028,000 after purchasing an additional 47,618 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Kadant by 0.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 658,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $148,502,000 after acquiring an additional 4,529 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Kadant by 640.8% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,556,000 after acquiring an additional 7,888 shares during the period. abrdn plc increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 118,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,240,000 after acquiring an additional 16,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Kadant by 27.1% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 50,858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,415,000 after purchasing an additional 10,858 shares during the period. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Kadant

In other Kadant news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 881 shares of the company’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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Jonathan W. Painter sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $2,311,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,514,853.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total value of $288,087.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,798 shares of company stock valued at $2,899,004 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KAI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of Kadant stock opened at $282.37 on Friday. Kadant Inc. has a 52 week low of $183.49 and a 52 week high of $354.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $312.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $281.37. The company has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of 28.52 and a beta of 1.27.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.31. Kadant had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 12.12%. The business had revenue of $238.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.54 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. This is an increase from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.93%.

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.