Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Stock Position Reduced by Stonegate Investment Group LLC

Stonegate Investment Group LLC decreased its stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 21.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 169 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $219,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Kadant by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 144,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Dudley & Shanley Inc. boosted its position in Kadant by 196.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 32,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,985,000 after purchasing an additional 21,545 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kadant by 120.1% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp acquired a new position in Kadant during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $585,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Kadant by 60.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 64,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,876,000 after purchasing an additional 24,358 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Rebecca Martinez O’mara sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.59, for a total value of $117,777.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $507,618.87. The trade was a 18.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $398.21, for a total value of $60,527.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,250 shares in the company, valued at $1,692,392.50. This represents a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,052 shares of company stock worth $416,655. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kadant Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of KAI stock opened at $373.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.29. Kadant Inc. has a 1 year low of $249.51 and a 1 year high of $429.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $373.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $346.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 38.23 and a beta of 1.28.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced 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. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 11.12%. The company had revenue of $271.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $266.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Barrington Research boosted their price objective on Kadant from $360.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

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.