Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Shares Bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 60.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,722 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 24,358 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.55% of Kadant worth $21,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dudley & Shanley Inc. raised its position in shares of Kadant by 196.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 32,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $10,985,000 after buying an additional 21,545 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Kadant by 1.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,510 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,483,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Kadant during the third quarter valued at approximately $585,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kadant in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $444,000. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Kadant

In other news, VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of the company'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 owns 1,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $570,848.25. This represents a 29.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $398.21, for a total transaction of $60,527.92. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,692,392.50. The trade was a 3.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,052 shares of company stock worth $416,655 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Barrington Research increased their price target on Kadant from $360.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

Kadant Trading Down 0.7 %

Kadant stock traded down $2.57 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $344.58. The stock had a trading volume of 81,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 141,025. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27 and a beta of 1.28. Kadant Inc. has a 52-week low of $249.51 and a 52-week high of $429.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $378.44 and a 200 day moving average of $339.60.

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

Kadant Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Kadant's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.10%.

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.