Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $354.19, but opened at $400.00. Kadant shares last traded at $382.35, with a volume of 105,279 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research report on Friday.

Kadant Trading Up 8.7 %

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 firm has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.13 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $363.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $348.74.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.17. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 11.12%. As a group, research analysts expect that Kadant Inc. will post 10.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.25, for a total transaction of $238,350.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,848.25. This trade represents a 29.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $398.21, for a total value of $60,527.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,250 shares in the company, valued at $1,692,392.50. The trade was a 3.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kadant

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Kadant by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 1,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 3.2% in 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 during the period. Zhang Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 5,256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,813,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,510 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,483,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 4,178 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,412,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Company Profile

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.