Alliancebernstein L.P. Increases Stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 1,678 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Kadant were worth $4,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Kadant Stock Up 1.8 %

KAI stock opened at $317.72 on Monday. 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 $353.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $359.23. Kadant Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.51 and a 12 month high of $429.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 33.51 and a beta of 1.24.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 EPS 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%. Equities analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. This is a positive change from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is 14.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.