Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Earns Outperform Rating from William Blair

William Blair reissued their outperform rating on shares of Kadant (NYSE:KAI) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Zacks.com reports. William Blair also issued estimates for Kadant’s Q2 2024 earnings at $2.47 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $2.66 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $2.54 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $10.05 EPS.

KAI has been the subject of several other reports. Barrington Research restated an outperform rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded Kadant from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KAI traded up $5.83 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $272.69. 100,194 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 96,800. The company’s 50 day moving average is $308.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $282.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 28.41 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Kadant has a 52 week low of $186.95 and a 52 week high of $354.02.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $248.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.56 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.88% and a net margin of 11.53%. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kadant will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This is a boost from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kadant news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total value of $70,266.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,587,814.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 881 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total value of $288,087.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total value of $70,266.77. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,587,814.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,798 shares of company stock valued at $2,899,004 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kadant

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Kadant during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kadant by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in Kadant during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Kadant by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 185 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in Kadant during the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

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.