Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Short Interest Up 14.7% in March

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 987,100 shares, an increase of 14.7% from the March 15th total of 860,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 97,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 10.2 days. Currently, 8.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KAI traded down $0.32 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $290.60. The stock had a trading volume of 50,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 94,466. Kadant has a 52 week low of $183.19 and a 52 week high of $354.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $317.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $278.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35 and a beta of 1.28. 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 (NYSE:KAI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $227.54 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kadant will post 9.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total transaction of $70,266.77. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,587,814.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Jonathan W. Painter sold 7,000 shares of Kadant 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 transaction, the director now owns 7,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,514,853.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total transaction of $70,266.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,587,814.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,798 shares of company stock worth $2,899,004. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kadant

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wasatch Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Kadant by 3.6% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors Inc. now owns 1,608,728 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $312,399,000 after buying an additional 55,595 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Kadant by 4.8% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 912,175 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $202,594,000 after buying an additional 42,069 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kadant by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 661,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $185,365,000 after buying an additional 2,885 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kadant during the third quarter worth $110,849,000. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Kadant by 2.3% during the first quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 444,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,681,000 after buying an additional 9,878 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

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.