Wasatch Advisors LP Has $365.76 Million Stock Position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Wasatch Advisors LP lessened its stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,060,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 89,313 shares during the quarter. Kadant accounts for about 1.8% of Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Wasatch Advisors LP owned about 0.09% of Kadant worth $365,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KAI. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $193,595,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Kadant by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,218,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $420,292,000 after buying an additional 243,267 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at $46,529,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the fourth quarter worth $39,400,000. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at $38,560,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kadant Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE KAI opened at $318.29 on Wednesday. Kadant Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $249.51 and a fifty-two week high of $429.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.58 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $351.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $358.83.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.17. Kadant had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.59%. On average, analysts predict that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. This is a boost from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.