Kadant’s (KAI) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Barrington Research

Barrington Research restated their outperform rating on shares of Kadant (NYSE:KAI) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $380.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on KAI. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kadant from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Kadant Stock Performance

NYSE KAI opened at $333.07 on Tuesday. Kadant has a 1 year low of $281.30 and a 1 year high of $429.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 8.17 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 37.09 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $323.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $336.14.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.37. Kadant had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 12.62%. The business had revenue of $255.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $245.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.81 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Kadant will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.14%.

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

Institutional Trading of Kadant

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,332,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $448,961,000 after purchasing an additional 114,310 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 222,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,490,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 165,438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,738,000 after purchasing an additional 10,972 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 249.0% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 160,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,175,000 after purchasing an additional 114,732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 156,358 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,985,000 after purchasing an additional 26,067 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

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.