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

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its stake in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,369 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 39 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Kadant were worth $1,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kadant in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Kadant by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 150 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 348.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 242 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Kadant during the first quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Kadant by 23.1% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KAI. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Kadant from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th.

Kadant Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of KAI opened at $332.87 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $320.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $336.47. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.34 and a beta of 1.25. Kadant Inc has a one year low of $281.30 and a one year high of $429.95.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.13. Kadant had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 10.63%. The firm had revenue of $239.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.41 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

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

Kadant announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.