Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Short Interest Up 14.7% in March

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 987,100 shares, an increase of 14.7% from the March 15th total of 860,400 shares. Currently, 8.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 97,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 10.2 days.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of Kadant stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $290.60. 50,135 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 94,466. Kadant has a 12 month low of $183.19 and a 12 month high of $354.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $317.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $278.53.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.41 EPS 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 company had revenue of $238.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $227.54 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kadant will post 9.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. This is a positive change from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kadant news, Director Jonathan W. Painter sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 7,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,514,853.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total transaction of $228,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $288,087. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jonathan W. Painter sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 7,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,514,853.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,798 shares of company stock valued at $2,899,004 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kadant

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wasatch Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Kadant by 3.6% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors Inc. now owns 1,608,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $312,399,000 after acquiring an additional 55,595 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Kadant by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 912,175 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $202,594,000 after acquiring an additional 42,069 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kadant by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 661,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $185,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,885 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kadant during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $110,849,000. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Kadant by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 444,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,681,000 after buying an additional 9,878 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KAI has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th.

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.