Thomas C. Leonard Sells 2,000 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Stock

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,433,950. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Kadant Price Performance

Kadant stock opened at $331.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.52 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $319.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $303.71. Kadant Inc. has a 1 year low of $214.21 and a 1 year high of $363.40.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $275.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $263.50 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.48% and a net margin of 11.35%. Kadant’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Kadant Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Kadant’s payout ratio is currently 13.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on KAI. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Friday, September 20th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st.

Institutional Trading of Kadant

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 2nd quarter valued at about $615,000. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in Kadant in the second quarter worth approximately $347,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Kadant by 175.4% during the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 5,627 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,653,000 after buying an additional 3,584 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its position in Kadant by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 13,525 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,973,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.