Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Shares Bought by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 37.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kadant were worth $52,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Kadant by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 658,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $148,502,000 after acquiring an additional 4,529 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Kadant in the 3rd quarter valued at about $110,849,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Kadant by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 142,393 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,117,000 after buying an additional 880 shares during the period. abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Kadant by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 118,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,240,000 after buying an additional 16,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 114,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,748,000 after acquiring an additional 3,503 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KAI shares. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, April 29th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Kadant in a report on Tuesday, April 30th.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of KAI opened at $281.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.32 and a beta of 1.30. Kadant Inc. has a one year low of $186.99 and a one year high of $354.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $305.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $284.03.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $248.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.56 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.88% and a net margin of 11.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 10 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. This is a positive change from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is 13.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kadant news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total value of $70,266.77. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,587,814.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total transaction of $70,266.77. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,587,814.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jonathan W. Painter sold 7,000 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $2,311,750.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,514,853.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,798 shares of company stock worth $2,899,004. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.