West Coast Financial LLC Sells 370 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

West Coast Financial LLC lowered its position in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,633 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 370 shares during the quarter. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $1,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in Kadant during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kadant in the third quarter worth $28,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 68.6% during the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 204 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Barrington Research lifted their price target on Kadant from $360.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

Insider Activity at Kadant

In related news, Director Rebecca Martinez O’mara sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.59, for a total value of $117,777.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $507,618.87. The trade was a 18.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $398.21, for a total value of $60,527.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,692,392.50. The trade was a 3.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,052 shares of company stock valued at $416,655. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kadant Stock Up 2.8 %

KAI stock opened at $364.23 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $377.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $341.71. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.28 and a beta of 1.28. Kadant Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.51 and a 12 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.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.41. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 11.12%. 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 company posted $2.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Kadant’s 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.