Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Shares Purchased by Associated Banc Corp

Associated Banc Corp increased its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 7.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in Kadant were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kadant by 1.2% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,349,437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $396,438,000 after purchasing an additional 15,512 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Kadant by 46.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 967,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $317,482,000 after buying an additional 306,352 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Kadant by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 314,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,355,000 after buying an additional 5,700 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 34.8% in the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 122,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,447,000 after acquiring an additional 31,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 121,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $40,979,000 after acquiring an additional 2,141 shares during the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kadant

In other Kadant news, Director Rebecca Martinez O’mara sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.59, for a total transaction of $117,777.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,293 shares in the company, valued at $507,618.87. This trade represents a 18.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 4,250 shares in the company, valued at $1,692,392.50. This represents a 3.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,052 shares of company stock valued at $1,091,455 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kadant Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of KAI stock opened at $423.23 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Kadant Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $249.51 and a fifty-two week high of $429.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $349.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $318.89. The stock has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.32 and a beta of 1.21.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.41. Kadant had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The business had revenue of $271.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $266.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on KAI. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st.

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.