Kadant Inc. (KAI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.29 on February 1st

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 16th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Thursday, January 4th will be given a dividend of 0.29 per share by the industrial products company on Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 3rd.

Kadant has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 10 years. Kadant has a dividend payout ratio of 11.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Kadant to earn $10.06 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 11.5%.

Kadant Price Performance

NYSE KAI opened at $258.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $230.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $216.93. Kadant has a 1 year low of $171.02 and a 1 year high of $266.34. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.42 and a beta of 1.19.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $244.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.80 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 12.06%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kadant will post 9.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael C. Colwell sold 1,950 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.64, for a total value of $432,198.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,452.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Thomas Andrew Blanchard sold 454 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.06, for a total value of $99,453.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,208.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael C. Colwell sold 1,950 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.64, for a total value of $432,198.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,703 shares in the company, valued at $377,452.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,170 shares of company stock worth $1,798,693 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wasatch Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Kadant by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors Inc. now owns 1,608,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $312,399,000 after buying an additional 55,595 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kadant by 521.4% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 60,104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,960,000 after buying an additional 50,432 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Kadant by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 912,175 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $202,594,000 after buying an additional 42,069 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kadant by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 233,192 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,421,000 after buying an additional 34,056 shares during the period. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,765,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $243.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Kadant in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock.

About Kadant

Kadant Inc supplies technologies and engineered systems worldwide. It operates through 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, shower and fabric-conditioning systems, formation systems, and water-filtration systems.