Cerity Partners LLC Sells 121 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,470 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 121 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Kadant Trading Down 6.3 %

KAI opened at $286.03 on Tuesday. Kadant Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.51 and a 52 week high of $429.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $346.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $358.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

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

Kadant Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This is a boost from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research 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.