Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $377.00 and last traded at $377.00, with a volume of 345 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $359.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Kadant Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.63 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $327.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $308.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $271.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $266.38 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 11.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.10%.

Insider Transactions at Kadant

In other news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kadant

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the first quarter worth approximately $92,993,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 1st quarter valued at $670,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 624.3% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after buying an additional 3,671 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,324 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,321,000 after acquiring an additional 2,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kadant by 46.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 967,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $317,482,000 after acquiring an additional 306,352 shares during the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.