Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 144,062 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 32% from the previous session’s volume of 109,178 shares.The stock last traded at $402.56 and had previously closed at $388.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Kadant Trading Down 1.9 %

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $363.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $350.56. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.89 and a beta of 1.29.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kadant Inc. will post 9.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kadant

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kadant during the third quarter worth $28,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Kadant by 267.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 103 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.