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 daily trading volume, of 92,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 15.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In other Kadant news, Director Rebecca Martinez O’mara sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.59, for a total value of $117,777.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,293 shares in the company, valued at $507,618.87. This trade represents a 18.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 152 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,692,392.50. This trade 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 valued at $416,655. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kadant

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kadant during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in Kadant in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kadant in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Kadant in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp raised its holdings in Kadant by 68.6% in the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 204 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kadant Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of KAI stock traded up $2.63 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $368.05. 10,993 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 92,639. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $370.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $347.61. Kadant has a 12-month low of $249.51 and a 12-month high of $429.95. The stock has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.61 and a beta of 1.29. 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Kadant’s payout ratio is 13.10%.

About Kadant

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.