Kadant Inc. to Post Q2 2024 Earnings of $2.47 Per Share, William Blair Forecasts (NYSE:KAI)

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) – Analysts at William Blair lowered their Q2 2024 earnings estimates for Kadant in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, May 1st. William Blair analyst R. Sparenblek now expects that the industrial products company will earn $2.47 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.70. William Blair has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Kadant’s current full-year earnings is $9.98 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Kadant’s Q3 2024 earnings at $2.66 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $2.54 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $10.05 EPS.

Separately, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $360.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, April 29th.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of Kadant stock opened at $272.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $307.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $282.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.38 and a beta of 1.30. Kadant has a 1-year low of $186.95 and a 1-year high of $354.02.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $248.98 million for 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 firm’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.40 EPS.

Kadant Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Kadant

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Kadant by 137.9% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 82,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,028,000 after buying an additional 47,618 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 4,529 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Kadant by 640.8% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,556,000 after purchasing an additional 7,888 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its stake in Kadant by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 118,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,240,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Kadant by 27.1% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 50,858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,415,000 after purchasing an additional 10,858 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Kadant

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.