Stonegate Investment Group LLC Trims Stock Position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC cut its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 21.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 635 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 169 shares during the quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Kadant by 54.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Kadant by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its stake in Kadant by 87.1% during the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 1,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management increased its stake in Kadant by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 2,239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $772,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC increased its stake in Kadant by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 5,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,813,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kadant

In other Kadant news, VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.25, for a total transaction of $238,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,437 shares in the company, valued at $570,848.25. This trade represents a 29.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $398.21, for a total value of $60,527.92. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,692,392.50. This trade represents a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,052 shares of company stock worth $416,655 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kadant Price Performance

KAI stock opened at $373.54 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $249.51 and a 1 year high of $429.95. The firm has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.23 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $373.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $346.78.

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

Kadant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barrington Research upped their price target on Kadant from $360.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

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.