B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Takes $5.85 Million Position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 17,299 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $5,847,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG owned about 0.15% of Kadant at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Park Place Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 68.6% during the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 204 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant during the third quarter valued at $74,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 226.2% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 274 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $674,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,250 shares in the company, valued at $1,433,950. This represents a 32.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rebecca Martinez O'mara sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.59, for a total transaction of $117,777.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $507,618.87. This trade represents a 18.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,052 shares of company stock worth $1,091,455. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KAI. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

Kadant Stock Performance

NYSE KAI traded down $2.95 on Wednesday, reaching $392.76. 180,854 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 81,078. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $343.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $315.87. The firm has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.20 and a beta of 1.21. Kadant Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $249.51 and a fifty-two week high of $422.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.29.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $271.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $266.38 million. Kadant had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The company's revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Kadant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.10%.

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.