Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,304 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 292 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.05% of Kadant worth $2,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KAI. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Kadant by 1.2% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,349,437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $396,438,000 after purchasing an additional 15,512 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 314,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,355,000 after buying an additional 5,700 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 280,797 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $94,909,000 after buying an additional 6,412 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 1.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 144,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,788,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Kadant by 1.6% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 130,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,036,000 after acquiring an additional 2,068 shares during the period. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kadant Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of KAI opened at $352.00 on Friday. Kadant Inc. has a 52-week low of $249.51 and a 52-week high of $429.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 36.03 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $376.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $337.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.29 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 company had revenue of $271.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $266.38 million. Kadant had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.10%. Kadant’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barrington Research upped their price objective on Kadant from $360.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kadant

In other Kadant news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,692,392.50. This represents a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rebecca Martinez O’mara sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.59, for a total value of $117,777.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $507,618.87. This represents a 18.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,052 shares of company stock valued at $416,655 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.