Xponance Inc. Purchases 43 Shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI)

Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 888 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 43 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Kadant were worth $299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $420,292,000 after acquiring an additional 243,267 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 97.9% in the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 221,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $74,528,000 after purchasing an additional 109,439 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 156,358 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,985,000 after purchasing an additional 26,067 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 154,466 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,289,000 after purchasing an additional 8,030 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,529,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kadant Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:KAI opened at $332.87 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $320.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $336.53. Kadant Inc has a 52-week low of $281.30 and a 52-week high of $429.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 2.47. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.34 and a beta of 1.25.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $239.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.41 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 10.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.38 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.44%.

Kadant declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Kadant from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st.

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.