Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 21.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,968 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,063 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Kadant were worth $1,958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. acquired a new position in Kadant in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kadant during the third quarter worth about $25,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kadant news, Director Erin L. Russell sold 1,112 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.25, for a total value of $310,526.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,802 shares in the company, valued at $1,061,708.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Kadant stock traded down $1.83 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $294.10. 5,433 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 91,050. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $281.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $292.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 30.83 and a beta of 1.24. Kadant Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.99 and a twelve month high of $354.02.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.42. The company had revenue of $248.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.56 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 11.53%. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on KAI. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kadant in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th.

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.