Vanguard Group Inc. Has $420.29 Million Position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 25.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,218,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 243,267 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.38% of Kadant worth $420,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in Kadant during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the third quarter worth $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Kadant by 267.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at $85,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at $160,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kadant Stock Up 2.1 %

Kadant stock opened at $350.39 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 36.96 and a beta of 1.25. Kadant Inc. has a 12-month low of $249.51 and a 12-month high of $429.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $364.86 and its 200 day moving average is $360.67. 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 Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.17. Kadant had a net margin of 10.59% and a return on equity of 14.66%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is an increase from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Kadant’s payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Friday, February 14th.

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.