DF Dent & Co. Inc. Sells 33,551 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. lowered its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 40.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,612 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 33,551 shares during the quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Kadant were worth $17,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in Kadant during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 267.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at about $160,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Kadant Stock Performance

NYSE KAI opened at $350.39 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.96 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $364.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $360.67. Kadant Inc. has a 1 year low of $249.51 and a 1 year high of $429.95.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 EPS 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. This is an increase from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. 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.