Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 6,831 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Baird Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 28.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 17,022 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,831 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.14% of Kadant worth $5,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Kadant by 267.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Kadant in the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,000. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter worth approximately $160,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Kadant by 54.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KAI opened at $303.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.05 and a beta of 1.30. Kadant Inc. has a twelve month low of $266.23 and a twelve month high of $429.95. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $324.33 and a 200 day moving average of $355.47.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.13. Kadant had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.59%. The firm had revenue of $239.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.41 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is an increase from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is 14.44%.

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.