Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC trimmed its holdings in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 93.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,081 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 342,565 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $6,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wasatch Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Kadant by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors Inc. now owns 1,608,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $312,399,000 after purchasing an additional 55,595 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Kadant by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 912,175 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $202,594,000 after purchasing an additional 42,069 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Kadant by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 658,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $148,502,000 after purchasing an additional 4,529 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Kadant in the 3rd quarter valued at about $110,849,000. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Kadant by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 444,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,681,000 after purchasing an additional 9,878 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kadant Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of KAI stock opened at $283.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64 and a beta of 1.27. Kadant Inc. has a 1-year low of $183.19 and a 1-year high of $354.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $317.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $278.61.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $238.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $227.54 million. Kadant had a net margin of 12.12% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kadant Inc. will post 9.98 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This is an increase from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is 12.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 881 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total transaction of $288,087.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Kadant news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total value of $228,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $288,087. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 881 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total transaction of $288,087.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,798 shares of company stock valued at $2,899,004. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KAI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th.

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.