MetLife Investment Management LLC Raises Stake in Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI – Free Report) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,078 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 312 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Kadant worth $2,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dudley & Shanley Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 196.7% in the third quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 32,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,985,000 after acquiring an additional 21,545 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 60.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 64,722 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,876,000 after acquiring an additional 24,358 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the third quarter worth approximately $585,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 54.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 504 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the fourth quarter worth approximately $464,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Get Our Latest Research Report on Kadant

Kadant Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of KAI stock opened at $311.40 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.85 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Kadant Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $249.51 and a fifty-two week high of $429.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $340.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $357.84.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 10.59% and a return on equity of 14.66%. On average, analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc. will post 9.97 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. This is a boost from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Kadant’s payout ratio is 14.35%.

Kadant Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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