Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Reduces Position in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC cut its position in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 6.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 442,883 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 32,524 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $149,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 348.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 242 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at $85,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the 1st quarter valued at $111,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KAI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Kadant from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Thursday, May 1st.

Kadant Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:KAI opened at $305.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.39 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $311.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $341.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.62. Kadant Inc has a 1-year low of $279.64 and a 1-year high of $429.95.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $239.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.41 million. Kadant had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 13.74%. Kadant’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.44%.

Kadant announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 15th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.