Squarepoint Ops LLC Buys 6,307 Shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 51.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,307 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $5,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in Kadant during the 1st quarter worth about $92,993,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Kadant by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 661,286 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $185,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,885 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kadant during the 4th quarter worth about $6,917,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Kadant by 2,082.5% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 40,355 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,312,000 after acquiring an additional 38,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Kadant during the 1st quarter worth about $670,000. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on KAI shares. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

Kadant Stock Performance

Kadant stock opened at $335.08 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Kadant Inc. has a 1 year low of $214.21 and a 1 year high of $363.40. The company has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 34.90 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average is $320.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $303.46.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $275.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.50 million. Kadant had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 15.48%. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.54 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is 13.33%.

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.