Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Stake Lowered by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG trimmed its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,186 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Kadant were worth $4,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KAI. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 14,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Kadant by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new position in Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $631,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,529,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Kadant by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 83,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,882,000 after acquiring an additional 18,995 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Kadant Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Kadant stock opened at $337.42 on Tuesday. Kadant Inc. has a 12-month low of $249.51 and a 12-month high of $429.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $366.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $360.60. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.59 and a beta of 1.25.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.34 dividend. This is an increase from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Kadant’s payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

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.