Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 22,000 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 168,729 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 22,000 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned 1.44% of Kadant worth $47,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wasatch Advisors Inc. raised its position in Kadant by 3.6% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors Inc. now owns 1,608,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $312,399,000 after acquiring an additional 55,595 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Kadant by 4.8% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 912,175 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $202,594,000 after purchasing an additional 42,069 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kadant by 0.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 658,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $148,502,000 after purchasing an additional 4,529 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the third quarter valued at approximately $110,849,000. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Kadant by 2.3% in the first quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 444,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,681,000 after purchasing an additional 9,878 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KAI opened at $281.99 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $316.61 and a 200 day moving average of $279.76. The stock has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.48 and a beta of 1.28. Kadant Inc. has a 12 month low of $183.19 and a 12 month high of $354.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $238.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $227.54 million. Kadant had a net margin of 12.12% and a return on equity of 16.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kadant Inc. will post 9.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. This is a boost from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kadant’s payout ratio is currently 12.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kadant news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.00, for a total value of $288,087.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Kadant news, Director Jonathan W. Painter sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,514,853.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sold a total of 8,798 shares of company stock valued at $2,899,004 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KAI. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th.

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.