Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Makes New Investment in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 921 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Kadant during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Kadant in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Kadant by 267.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at $85,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Kadant during the 4th quarter worth $160,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Kadant Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:KAI opened at $305.13 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.19 and a beta of 1.24. Kadant Inc. has a 1 year low of $249.51 and a 1 year high of $429.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $347.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $358.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.29.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

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

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.