Wall Street Zen Downgrades Kadant (NYSE:KAI) to Sell

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on KAI. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Kadant Stock Down 1.0%

KAI stock opened at $305.89 on Thursday. Kadant has a 52-week low of $266.23 and a 52-week high of $429.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $316.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $354.55. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.27 and a beta of 1.30.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $239.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.41 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kadant will post 9.97 EPS for the current year.

Kadant announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kadant

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KAI. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Kadant by 31.8% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,441 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,553 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Kadant by 1.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 30,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Vancity Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Kadant in the first quarter valued at approximately $613,000. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in Kadant in the first quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Kadant by 519.2% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 80,677 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,181,000 after purchasing an additional 67,648 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.