Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) Short Interest Up 6.9% in January

Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,390,000 shares, a growth of 6.9% from the December 31st total of 1,300,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 92,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 15.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Fredrik H. Westerhout sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.25, for a total value 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 represents a 29.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $398.21, for a total transaction of $60,527.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,692,392.50. This represents a 3.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,052 shares of company stock worth $416,655. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kadant

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hardy Reed LLC boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 716 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 1,289.5% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $182,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,132 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,460,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 18,386 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,343,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $193,595,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of KAI traded up $2.63 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $368.05. The company had a trading volume of 10,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 92,639. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $370.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $347.61. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.61 and a beta of 1.29. Kadant has a 12-month low of $249.51 and a 12-month high of $429.95.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barrington Research increased their price objective on shares of Kadant from $360.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

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.