Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI – Free Report) by 406.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,073 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 0.48% of Kadant worth $16,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the third quarter worth $1,500,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 12,689.4% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 33,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,908,000 after purchasing an additional 33,627 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Kadant in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,144,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 43,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,326,000 after acquiring an additional 6,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverbridge Partners LLC increased its stake in Kadant by 43.4% in the 1st quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 252,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,739,000 after purchasing an additional 76,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research cut Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $341.50.
Insider Activity
In related news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total transaction of $410,026.59. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,363 shares in the company, valued at $455,473.71. This represents a 47.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Kadant Stock Up 5.8%
KAI opened at $325.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $306.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $315.86. Kadant Inc has a fifty-two week low of $244.87 and a fifty-two week high of $357.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.11 and a beta of 1.20.
Kadant (NYSE:KAI – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.73. Kadant had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The firm had revenue of $281.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc will post 12.42 EPS for the current year.
Kadant Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Kadant’s payout ratio is presently 16.42%.
Kadant declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
Kadant Profile
Kadant Inc, headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts, is a global supplier of high‐value, critical components and engineered systems for the pulp and paper industry and other process industries. The company’s product portfolio spans stock preparation technologies, refiners and pulpers, fluid handling systems, and web‐handling equipment designed to optimize the efficiency and quality of paper production. In addition to capital equipment, Kadant offers aftermarket services, including spare parts, maintenance programs and process optimization consulting, which together support long‐term customer productivity and reliability.
Originally part of a larger industrial conglomerate, Kadant was established as an independent public company in 1991.
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