Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $39.40 Million in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 114,207 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $39,400,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.97% of Kadant as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KAI. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Kadant during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 267.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 103 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $160,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Kadant Stock Performance

NYSE:KAI traded down $15.53 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $289.85. The stock had a trading volume of 19,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 105,687. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $347.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $358.56. Kadant Inc. has a twelve month low of $249.51 and a twelve month high of $429.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.69 and a beta of 1.24.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a positive change from Kadant's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Kadant's payout ratio is 14.35%.

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.