Sei Investments Co. Sells 2,429 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Sei Investments Co. lowered its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,429 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.82% of Kadant worth $33,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 1.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 144,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. grew its holdings in Kadant by 196.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 32,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,985,000 after acquiring an additional 21,545 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Kadant by 120.1% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $546,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Kadant during the third quarter valued at $585,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 60.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 64,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,876,000 after purchasing an additional 24,358 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research report on Friday, February 14th.

Kadant Stock Performance

NYSE:KAI opened at $347.24 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 36.63 and a beta of 1.25. Kadant Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $249.51 and a fifty-two week high of $429.95. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $367.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $359.62.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.17. Kadant had a net margin of 10.59% and a return on equity of 14.66%. Research analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a positive change from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

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.