Arizona State Retirement System Trims Stock Position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,272 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 60 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Kadant were worth $917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 70.4% in the 1st quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 138 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 1,925 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,042,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 2,137 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,127 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $522,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kadant

In other news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total transaction of $288,087.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Jonathan W. Painter sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $2,311,750.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,514,853.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total transaction of $288,087.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,798 shares of company stock valued at $2,899,004 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of KAI opened at $290.60 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.35 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day moving average is $317.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.53. Kadant Inc. has a 1 year low of $183.19 and a 1 year high of $354.02.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.31. Kadant had a net margin of 12.12% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The business had revenue of $238.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $227.54 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kadant Inc. will post 9.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This is a boost from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is 12.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th.

Kadant 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.