Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Shares Purchased by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 15.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,585 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,164 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Kadant worth $7,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on KAI. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $674,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,433,950. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of KAI opened at $397.36 on Wednesday. Kadant Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $247.85 and a fifty-two week high of $422.54. The company has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.67 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $333.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $311.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.29.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.41. Kadant had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The business had revenue of $271.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $266.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.10%.

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.