Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,304 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 292 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.05% of Kadant worth $2,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kadant during the second quarter worth $29,000. Park Place Capital Corp raised its position in shares of Kadant by 68.6% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 204 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter worth about $74,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Kadant by 226.2% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Kadant during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $111,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kadant

In other news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $398.21, for a total value of $60,527.92. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,692,392.50. The trade was a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 1,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,848.25. This represents a 29.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,052 shares of company stock valued at $1,091,455 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KAI opened at $419.55 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.94 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $347.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $317.47. Kadant Inc. has a 1-year low of $249.51 and a 1-year high of $422.54.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $271.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $266.38 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 11.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. Analysts forecast that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Kadant’s payout ratio is 13.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.