Champlain Investment Partners LLC Sells 76,556 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 62.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,068 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 76,556 shares during the quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned 0.39% of Kadant worth $15,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter worth about $819,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Kadant by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 22,253 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,677,000 after buying an additional 2,459 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,226 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Petros Family Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Kadant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $243,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Kadant Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of KAI traded up $10.56 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $305.14. 62,071 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 106,670. The business has a fifty day moving average of $344.95 and a 200-day moving average of $357.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 32.19 and a beta of 1.24. Kadant Inc. has a 1-year low of $249.51 and a 1-year high of $429.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.17. Kadant had a return on equity of 14.66% and a net margin of 10.59%. Analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. This is a positive change from Kadant's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Kadant's payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.