Insider Selling: Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) VP Sells 600 Shares of Stock

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.25, for a total transaction of $238,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,437 shares in the company, valued at $570,848.25. This represents a 29.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Kadant Stock Down 0.4 %

KAI stock traded down $1.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $395.85. The company had a trading volume of 56,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 80,541. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.69 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Kadant Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.51 and a 52 week high of $422.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $340.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $314.46.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.41. Kadant had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The firm had revenue of $271.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $266.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.10%.

Institutional Trading of Kadant

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Kadant by 46.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 967,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $317,482,000 after purchasing an additional 306,352 shares during the period. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 1st quarter worth about $92,993,000. F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in Kadant in the 2nd quarter valued at about $13,495,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in Kadant in the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,345,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in Kadant during the third quarter worth approximately $11,206,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on KAI shares. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

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.