Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Trims Stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lessened its holdings in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 157,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 35,924 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned 1.34% of Kadant worth $54,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KAI. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Kadant in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Kadant by 267.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at about $85,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at about $160,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Kadant Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE KAI opened at $336.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.52 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $366.61 and its 200 day moving average is $359.71. Kadant Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.51 and a 52 week high of $429.95.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.17. Kadant had a net margin of 10.59% and a return on equity of 14.66%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This is a boost from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Kadant’s payout ratio is 14.35%.

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.