Rhumbline Advisers Buys 15,002 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 81.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,388 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,002 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.28% of Kadant worth $11,249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of KAI. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Kadant by 150,885.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 81,532 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,469,000 after acquiring an additional 81,478 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its holdings in Kadant by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 13,029 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,495,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Kadant by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 76,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,466,000 after buying an additional 13,441 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc raised its position in shares of Kadant by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 19,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,709,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter worth about $690,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of Kadant stock opened at $333.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.17 and a beta of 1.26. Kadant Inc. has a one year low of $269.75 and a one year high of $429.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $310.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $347.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $239.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.41 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.59%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KAI. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kadant from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, 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.

Kadant 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.