Inspire Investing LLC Raises Stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,199 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kadant in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kadant by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Kadant by 31,600.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the first quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of KAI opened at $332.98 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.69 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $320.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $303.16. Kadant Inc. has a 52 week low of $214.21 and a 52 week high of $363.40.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $275.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.50 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.48% and a net margin of 11.35%. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.54 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Kadant’s payout ratio is currently 13.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on KAI. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Friday. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st.

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.