Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Position Lessened by Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,347,055 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 19,016 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned approximately 11.47% of Kadant worth $464,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KAI. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Kadant in the fourth quarter worth approximately $193,595,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,218,273 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $420,292,000 after acquiring an additional 243,267 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter worth $46,529,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter worth $39,400,000. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the fourth quarter worth $38,560,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Kadant Trading Down 1.3 %

Kadant stock traded down $4.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $311.60. The stock had a trading volume of 53,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 107,313. Kadant Inc. has a twelve month low of $249.51 and a twelve month high of $429.95. 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 has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.87 and a beta of 1.24. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $341.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $357.41.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. This is a positive change from Kadant's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Kadant's dividend payout ratio is 14.35%.

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.