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

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in 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. Approximately 8.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 97,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 10.2 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was 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 owns 11,080 shares in the company, valued at $3,587,814.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Jonathan W. Painter sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,587,814.80. 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kadant

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 70.4% during the first quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 138 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Comerica Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE KAI traded down $0.32 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $290.60. The stock had a trading volume of 50,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 94,466. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35 and a beta of 1.28. Kadant has a one year low of $183.19 and a one year high of $354.02. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $317.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $278.53.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $238.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.54 million. Kadant had a net margin of 12.12% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Sell-side analysts predict that Kadant will post 9.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on KAI. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a report on Wednesday, February 14th.

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.