Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Shares Sold by Champlain Investment Partners LLC

Champlain Investment Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 62.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 46,068 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 76,556 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $15,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KAI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Kadant by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,218,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $420,292,000 after acquiring an additional 243,267 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $193,595,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kadant during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,529,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Kadant by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 121,686 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,980,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at $39,400,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Friday, February 14th.

Kadant Stock Performance

Kadant stock opened at $305.13 on Friday. Kadant Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $249.51 and a fifty-two week high of $429.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $348.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $358.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.19 and a beta of 1.24.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.17. Kadant had a net margin of 10.59% and a return on equity of 14.66%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This is an increase from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.35%.

Kadant Company 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.