PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Buys 217 Shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 27.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Kadant were worth $343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KAI. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 97.9% during the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 221,209 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $74,528,000 after acquiring an additional 109,439 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 150,885.2% during the 1st 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 809.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 64,893 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,863,000 after acquiring an additional 57,761 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 71.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 79,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,829,000 after acquiring an additional 33,084 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake 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 worth $53,985,000 after acquiring an additional 26,067 shares during the period. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kadant from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Kadant from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th.

Kadant Stock Performance

NYSE:KAI opened at $339.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.86 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $327.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $333.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Kadant Inc has a 1-year low of $281.30 and a 1-year high of $429.95.

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

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