Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,390,000 shares, an increase of 6.9% from the December 31st total of 1,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 92,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 15.0 days.

Insider Activity

In other Kadant news, VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.25, for a total transaction of $238,350.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,848.25. The trade was a 29.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rebecca Martinez O’mara sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.59, for a total value 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 represents a 18.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,052 shares of company stock valued at $416,655. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kadant

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kadant during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 68.6% in the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 204 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of Kadant stock traded up $1.50 on Tuesday, hitting $366.92. The stock had a trading volume of 12,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 92,723. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.56 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $370.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $347.61. 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 has a twelve month low of $249.51 and a twelve month high of $429.95.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Kadant’s payout ratio is 13.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.