Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.42 EPS

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.42, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $248.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.56 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.88% and a net margin of 11.53%. Kadant’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.40 EPS.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KAI traded up $5.83 during trading on Friday, reaching $272.69. The stock had a trading volume of 100,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 96,800. Kadant has a 1-year low of $186.95 and a 1-year high of $354.02. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.41 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $308.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $282.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.05.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on KAI shares. StockNews.com downgraded Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kadant in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kadant

In other news, Director Jonathan W. Painter sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $2,311,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,514,853.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Jonathan W. Painter sold 7,000 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $2,311,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,514,853.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 700 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total value of $228,900.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $288,087. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,798 shares of company stock worth $2,899,004. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.