Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Short Interest Update

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,390,000 shares, a growth of 6.9% from the December 15th total of 1,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 92,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 15.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Barrington Research upped their price objective on shares of Kadant from $360.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Insider Transactions at Kadant

In other news, VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.25, for a total transaction of $238,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,848.25. This trade represents a 29.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $398.21, for a total value of $60,527.92. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,250 shares in the company, valued at $1,692,392.50. This trade represents a 3.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,052 shares of company stock valued at $416,655 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KAI. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 68.6% in the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 204 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kadant Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE KAI traded up $0.35 on Monday, hitting $367.34. 78,975 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 113,324. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $376.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $343.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.46. Kadant has a 52-week low of $249.51 and a 52-week high of $429.95. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.60 and a beta of 1.28.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $271.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $266.38 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 11.12%. Kadant’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Kadant will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.10%.

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.