Short Interest in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Expands By 5.9%

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,430,000 shares, a growth of 5.9% from the July 31st total of 1,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 77,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 18.4 days.

Kadant Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:KAI traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $321.13. The stock had a trading volume of 60,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 85,833. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $315.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $304.20. Kadant has a 1-year low of $213.87 and a 1-year high of $363.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of 33.45 and a beta of 1.24.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $275.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.50 million. Kadant had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 15.48%. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.54 EPS. Analysts predict that Kadant will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KAI has been the topic of a number of research reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new position in Kadant during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kadant during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kadant by 58.2% in 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. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Kadant by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Kadant by 31,600.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

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.