Swiss National Bank Has $7.77 Million Stock Holdings in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.20% of Kadant worth $7,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Kadant by 46.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 967,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $317,482,000 after acquiring an additional 306,352 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC bought a new stake in Kadant in the second quarter worth approximately $13,495,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Kadant by 87.4% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 47,219 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,872,000 after acquiring an additional 22,020 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Kadant by 28.4% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 75,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,035,000 after acquiring an additional 16,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position in Kadant by 1.2% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,349,437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $396,438,000 after acquiring an additional 15,512 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kadant

In other Kadant news, VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.25, for a total value of $238,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,848.25. This represents a 29.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rebecca Martinez O’mara sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.59, for a total transaction of $117,777.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $507,618.87. This trade represents a 18.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,052 shares of company stock valued at $1,091,455 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

Kadant Price Performance

NYSE KAI opened at $419.27 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $349.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $318.89. The company has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.91 and a beta of 1.21. Kadant Inc. has a 1 year low of $249.51 and a 1 year high of $429.95.

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

Kadant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.10%.

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.