Arizona State Retirement System Trims Holdings in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Arizona State Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,272 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 60 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Kadant were worth $917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Kadant by 70.4% during the first quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 138 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Kadant during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Comerica Bank bought a new position in Kadant during the third quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in Kadant during the fourth quarter worth $54,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kadant

In other news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total transaction of $288,087.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total transaction of $228,900.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $288,087. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total value of $288,087.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,798 shares of company stock worth $2,899,004. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kadant Stock Performance

KAI stock opened at $290.60 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35 and a beta of 1.28. Kadant Inc. has a 1 year low of $183.19 and a 1 year high of $354.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $317.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.53.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $238.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $227.54 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 12.12%. On average, research analysts predict that Kadant Inc. will post 9.98 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. This is a boost from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.93%.

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.