abrdn plc Purchases 16,541 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 16.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 118,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,541 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Kadant were worth $33,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quantum Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Kadant during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $286,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Kadant by 640.8% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,556,000 after acquiring an additional 7,888 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in Kadant during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Strs Ohio boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter worth approximately $528,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KAI. StockNews.com cut Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of KAI opened at $282.76 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $316.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $280.16. Kadant Inc. has a 52 week low of $183.19 and a 52 week high of $354.02. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.56 and a beta of 1.28.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.31. Kadant had a net margin of 12.12% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The company had revenue of $238.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $227.54 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 9.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Kadant’s payout ratio is presently 12.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,587,814.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Kadant news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total transaction of $228,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $288,087. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total transaction of $70,266.77. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,587,814.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,798 shares of company stock worth $2,899,004 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.