Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Shares Acquired by Champlain Investment Partners LLC

Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 122,624 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 31,675 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned about 1.04% of Kadant worth $41,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KAI. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Kadant by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,005 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,642,000 after buying an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kadant by 46.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 967,638 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $317,482,000 after buying an additional 306,352 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Kadant in the 1st quarter worth approximately $221,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Kadant by 3,838.9% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,742 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 3,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Kadant by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 22,324 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on KAI. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $360.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st.

Kadant Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of KAI stock traded up $10.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $419.01. 101,583 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 76,773. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.89 and a beta of 1.21. 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's fifty day moving average price is $347.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $317.73. Kadant Inc. has a 52-week low of $249.51 and a 52-week high of $422.54.

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

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Kadant's payout ratio is presently 13.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kadant

In other Kadant news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total value of $674,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,433,950. The trade was a 32.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.25, for a total value of $238,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,848.25. The trade was a 29.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,052 shares of company stock valued at $1,091,455 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.