Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Sees Large Volume Increase – Time to Buy?

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 144,062 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 32% from the previous session’s volume of 109,178 shares.The stock last traded at $402.56 and had previously closed at $388.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Friday.

Kadant Stock Up 1.8 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $362.92 and its 200 day moving average is $349.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.29. The stock has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.49 and a beta of 1.29.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.17. Kadant had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.10%. Equities analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Kadant in the fourth quarter worth about $193,595,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Kadant by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,218,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $420,292,000 after buying an additional 243,267 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,529,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,400,000. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,560,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.