Barrington Research Reiterates Outperform Rating for Kadant (NYSE:KAI)

Kadant (NYSE:KAI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Barrington Research in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $360.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock. Barrington Research’s price target suggests a potential upside of 31.49% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th.

Kadant Trading Down 4.7 %

NYSE KAI opened at $273.79 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $311.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $282.12. Kadant has a twelve month low of $183.67 and a twelve month high of $354.02. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.66 and a beta of 1.28.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $238.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $227.54 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 12.12%. Research analysts forecast that Kadant will post 9.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kadant news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total value of $70,266.77. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,587,814.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Kadant news, Director Jonathan W. Painter sold 7,000 shares of Kadant 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 directly owns 7,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,514,853.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 217 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total transaction of $70,266.77. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,587,814.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,798 shares of company stock valued at $2,899,004 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kadant

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 137.9% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 82,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,028,000 after acquiring an additional 47,618 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 658,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $148,502,000 after acquiring an additional 4,529 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 640.8% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,556,000 after acquiring an additional 7,888 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its stake in Kadant by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 118,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,240,000 after purchasing an additional 16,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Kadant by 27.1% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 50,858 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,415,000 after purchasing an additional 10,858 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.