Stifel Financial Corp Lowers Holdings in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Stifel Financial Corp lowered its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 638 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Kadant were worth $13,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Friday.

Kadant Stock Down 1.4 %

KAI stock opened at $311.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $340.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $357.58. Kadant Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.51 and a 52 week high of $429.95. The company has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.85 and a beta of 1.24.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.17. Kadant had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.59%. On average, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This is an increase from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Kadant’s payout ratio is 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.