Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Has $35.06 Million Stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lowered its stake in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 22.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 101,621 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 29,828 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 0.87% of Kadant worth $35,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Kadant during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Kadant by 267.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $160,000. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Performance

Kadant stock opened at $351.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 37.13 and a beta of 1.25. Kadant Inc. has a 12-month low of $249.51 and a 12-month high of $429.95. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $367.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $359.47.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.17. Kadant had a net margin of 10.59% and a return on equity of 14.66%. As a group, analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. This is a boost from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research report on Friday, February 14th.

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.