114,207 Shares in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 114,207 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,400,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Kadant by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 47,327 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,327,000 after acquiring an additional 18,456 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Kadant by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,970 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,099,000 after purchasing an additional 2,767 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Kadant by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 54,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,636,000 after buying an additional 2,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at $542,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kadant Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE KAI opened at $318.29 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $351.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $358.83. Kadant Inc. has a twelve month low of $249.51 and a twelve month high of $429.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58 and a beta of 1.24.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts forecast that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. This is a positive change from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Kadant’s payout ratio is presently 14.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research note on Friday, February 14th.

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.