Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Grows Position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 40.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,440 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,867 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.17% of Kadant worth $6,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Kadant during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 68.6% in the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 204 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the third quarter valued at about $74,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Kadant by 226.2% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 274 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kadant news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total value of $674,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,433,950. The trade was a 32.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Kadant Trading Down 0.9 %

KAI traded down $3.36 on Friday, hitting $389.30. The company had a trading volume of 70,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 80,698. 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 business's fifty day simple moving average is $336.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $312.18. Kadant Inc. has a 12-month low of $249.51 and a 12-month high of $422.54. The company has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a PE ratio of 40.17 and a beta of 1.21.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.41. Kadant had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The firm had revenue of $271.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $266.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. Kadant's revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Kadant's dividend payout ratio is 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.