Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Shares Acquired by Sheets Smith Wealth Management

Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Kadant were worth $772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Kadant in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 68.6% during the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 204 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Up 2.4 %

KAI stock opened at $375.98 on Wednesday. Kadant Inc. has a one year low of $249.51 and a one year high of $429.95. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $375.52 and a 200-day moving average of $344.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 38.48 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Kadant Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,692,392.50. This represents a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.25, for a total value of $238,350.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,848.25. The trade was a 29.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,052 shares of company stock valued at $416,655. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.