Alliancebernstein L.P. Purchases 1,678 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,051 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,678 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.12% of Kadant worth $4,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Kadant during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Kadant by 267.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 103 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 4th quarter valued at about $160,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research note on Friday, February 14th.

Kadant Price Performance

NYSE KAI traded down $3.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $305.13. 142,499 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 105,987. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $347.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $358.08. Kadant Inc. has a 1 year low of $249.51 and a 1 year high of $429.95. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.19 and a beta of 1.24.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) 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 return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.59%. On average, analysts predict that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This is a boost from Kadant's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Kadant's dividend 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.