Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Has $35.06 Million Stock Holdings in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lowered its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) by 22.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 101,621 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 29,828 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Kadant were worth $35,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KAI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Kadant by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 83,717 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,882,000 after buying an additional 18,995 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its holdings in Kadant by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 34,289 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,829,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares during the period. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kadant by 128.6% in the 4th quarter. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,218,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $420,292,000 after purchasing an additional 243,267 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Kadant by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KAI opened at $351.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $367.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $359.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.13 and a beta of 1.25. Kadant Inc. has a 1-year low of $249.51 and a 1-year high of $429.95.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.17. Kadant had a net margin of 10.59% and a return on equity of 14.66%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This is a positive change from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.35%.

Kadant 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.