Quest Partners LLC Reduces Stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Quest Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 38.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 261 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KAI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 46.3% in the 1st 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 period. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Kadant during the first quarter valued at $92,993,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in shares of Kadant by 1,578.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 74,185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,795,000 after buying an additional 69,766 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the 2nd quarter worth about $13,495,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Kadant by 2,082.5% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 40,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,312,000 after acquiring an additional 38,506 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KAI. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KAI opened at $325.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.92 and a beta of 1.21. Kadant Inc. has a twelve month low of $214.21 and a twelve month high of $363.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $318.76 and a 200 day moving average of $302.93.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Kadant had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 15.48%. The firm had revenue of $275.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Kadant’s payout ratio is currently 13.33%.

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.