Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Shares Sold by Quest Partners LLC

Quest Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 22.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 94 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kadant during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Park Place Capital Corp increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kadant by 226.2% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,433,950. The trade was a 32.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,848.25. This represents a 29.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,052 shares of company stock valued at $1,091,455. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

Kadant Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of KAI opened at $412.79 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $354.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $321.01. Kadant Inc. has a 1-year low of $249.51 and a 1-year high of $429.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.97 and a beta of 1.21.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $271.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $266.38 million. Kadant had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.10%. Kadant’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

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

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.