Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 7,888 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 640.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,888 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned 0.08% of Kadant worth $2,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KAI. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,071 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,646,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Kadant by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 190,729 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,019,000 after acquiring an additional 7,000 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID now owns 56,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,819,000 after purchasing an additional 8,085 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 14.8% during the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,211 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Kadant by 1.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 66,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,025,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares during the period. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KAI opened at $289.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 29.24 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $315.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $280.60. Kadant Inc. has a 1-year low of $183.19 and a 1-year high of $354.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.31. Kadant had a net margin of 12.12% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The business had revenue of $238.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $227.54 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 9.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. This is an increase from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jonathan W. Painter sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $2,311,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,514,853.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Kadant news, Director Jonathan W. Painter sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $2,311,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,514,853.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total transaction of $70,266.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,587,814.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,798 shares of company stock valued at $2,899,004 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.