William Blair Reiterates Outperform Rating for Kadant (NYSE:KAI)

Kadant (NYSE:KAI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at William Blair in a research note issued on Tuesday, Zacks.com reports. William Blair also issued estimates for Kadant’s Q2 2024 earnings at $2.47 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $2.66 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $2.54 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $10.05 EPS.

KAI has been the subject of several other reports. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com cut Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th.

Kadant Stock Up 2.2 %

KAI traded up $5.83 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $272.69. The company had a trading volume of 100,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 96,800. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.41 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Kadant has a one year low of $186.95 and a one year high of $354.02. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $308.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $282.19.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.42. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.88% and a net margin of 11.53%. The firm had revenue of $248.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kadant will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total value of $70,266.77. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,587,814.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total transaction of $70,266.77. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,080 shares in the company, valued at $3,587,814.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jonathan W. Painter sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $2,311,750.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,615 shares in the company, valued at $2,514,853.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,798 shares of company stock worth $2,899,004. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Kadant by 137.9% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 82,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,028,000 after buying an additional 47,618 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kadant by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 658,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $148,502,000 after acquiring an additional 4,529 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Kadant by 640.8% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,556,000 after acquiring an additional 7,888 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its position in Kadant by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 118,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,240,000 after acquiring an additional 16,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Kadant by 27.1% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 50,858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,415,000 after purchasing an additional 10,858 shares during the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.