Hardy Reed LLC Buys New Stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Hardy Reed LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 5.2% during the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. increased its stake in Kadant by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 4,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,412,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance raised its position in shares of Kadant by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 718 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 7,156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,419,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Associated Banc Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 7.5% in the third quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KAI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st.

Kadant Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE KAI opened at $423.23 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The company has a market capitalization of $4.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.32 and a beta of 1.21. Kadant Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.51 and a 12 month high of $429.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $349.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $318.89.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $271.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $266.38 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 11.12%. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Kadant’s payout ratio is presently 13.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rebecca Martinez O’mara sold 300 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,433,950. This trade represents a 32.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,052 shares of company stock worth $1,091,455. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.