Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Shares Bought by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 14.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kadant were worth $1,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Kadant by 15.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,324 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,321,000 after buying an additional 2,923 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kadant by 46.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 967,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $317,482,000 after purchasing an additional 306,352 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Kadant by 133.3% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,066 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,752 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Kadant by 16.1% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 84,117 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,712,000 after buying an additional 5,167 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of KAI stock opened at $423.23 on Wednesday. Kadant Inc. has a twelve month low of $249.51 and a twelve month high of $429.95. The company has a market capitalization of $4.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.29 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $349.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $318.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $271.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $266.38 million. Kadant had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.25, for a total transaction of $238,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,437 shares in the company, valued at $570,848.25. This represents a 29.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $398.21, for a total value of $60,527.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,250 shares in the company, valued at $1,692,392.50. The trade was a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,052 shares of company stock valued at $1,091,455. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on KAI shares. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st.

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.