Kadant Inc $KAI Stock: Riverbridge Partners LLC Lowers Position

Riverbridge Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 187,645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,928 shares during the period. Kadant makes up approximately 1.5% of Riverbridge Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $49,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 12,689.4% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 33,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,908,000 after buying an additional 33,627 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Kadant in the second quarter valued at $565,205,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Kadant by 91.6% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,404 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,106 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Kadant in the second quarter valued at $7,843,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Kadant during the second quarter valued at about $4,396,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on KAI. Wall Street Zen downgraded Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Kadant from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Kadant from $306.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kadant currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $357.50.

Kadant Price Performance

KAI opened at $300.55 on Wednesday. Kadant Inc has a 52-week low of $244.87 and a 52-week high of $354.07. The company has a 50 day moving average of $274.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $305.79. The company has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.33 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 5.26, a current ratio of 8.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The industrial products company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $313.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $302.03 million. Kadant had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 12.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.53%.

Kadant Company Profile

Kadant Inc. is a global supplier of technologies and engineered systems used in industrial processing and papermaking. Its products help customers manage fluids, process materials, and improve the efficiency of manufacturing operations. The company’s offerings include fluid-handling equipment such as rotary joints, syphons, and expansion joints; doctoring, cleaning, and filtration systems; and equipment for stock preparation and paper recycling. Kadant also provides material-processing technologies for applications including packaging, tissue, corrugated products, and other industrial markets.