HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 883 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 120.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 883 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 12.4% during the second quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 1,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Kadant by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 63,955 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,789,000 after buying an additional 5,473 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Kadant by 87.4% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 47,219 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,872,000 after buying an additional 22,020 shares during the period. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the second quarter valued at about $242,000. Finally, Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 2nd quarter valued at about $470,000. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kadant

In other Kadant news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,692,392.50. The trade was a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rebecca Martinez O’mara sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.59, for a total transaction of $117,777.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $507,618.87. The trade was a 18.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,052 shares of company stock valued at $1,091,455 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barrington Research boosted their target price on Kadant from $360.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Kadant Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of KAI stock opened at $347.07 on Friday. Kadant Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $249.51 and a fifty-two week high of $429.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $371.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $332.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 35.52 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Kadant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.10%.

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.