Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,320,000 shares, a growth of 14.8% from the May 15th total of 1,150,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 87,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 15.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kadant news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 881 shares of the firm’s 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 881 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total value of $288,087.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Erin L. Russell sold 1,112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.25, for a total transaction of $310,526.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,802 shares in the company, valued at $1,061,708.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kadant

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kadant by 46.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 967,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $317,482,000 after purchasing an additional 306,352 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the third quarter valued at approximately $110,849,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the first quarter valued at approximately $92,993,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Kadant by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 142,393 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,117,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its holdings in Kadant by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 118,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,240,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:KAI opened at $278.62 on Tuesday. Kadant has a 1-year low of $196.99 and a 1-year high of $354.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $282.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $290.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02 and a beta of 1.25.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.42. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 11.53%. The firm had revenue of $248.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kadant will post 10.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Kadant’s payout ratio is 13.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kadant in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th.

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.