King Luther Capital Management Corp Grows Holdings in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Kadant were worth $2,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Kadant by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,349,437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $396,438,000 after purchasing an additional 15,512 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kadant by 46.3% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Kadant by 1.8% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in shares of Kadant during the 1st quarter worth approximately $92,993,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Kadant by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 84,117 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $24,712,000 after buying an additional 5,167 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Kadant Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of KAI opened at $419.55 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $347.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $317.47. Kadant Inc. has a one year low of $249.51 and a one year high of $422.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.94 and a beta of 1.21.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its 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 business had revenue of $271.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $266.38 million. Kadant had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. Kadant’s payout ratio is 13.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kadant news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,692,392.50. This trade represents a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.25, for a total transaction of $238,350.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,848.25. The trade was a 29.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,052 shares of company stock valued at $1,091,455 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kadant 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.