Kadant Inc. KAI has announced that it successfully completed the acquisition of Syntron Material Handling Group, LLC and certain associates (together referred below as Syntron) for $179 million in cash. The other party to the transaction were some affiliates of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners.
It is worth mentioning here that the company’s stock price has increased roughly 0.7% at the close of the trading session on Jan 2, 2019. The closing price on that day was $82.03.
Syntron is based in Tupelo, MS, and is primarily engaged in manufacturing, and providing equipment and systems related to material handling. Its products are mainly used in process industries like packaging, pulp and paper, mining, food processing, and others. Two key products, including vibratory and conveying equipment, are offered under Syntron and Link-Belt brands.
In the trailing 12 months ended Oct 31, 2018, Syntron generated revenues of approximately $89 million.
Details of Buyout
As noted, Kadant funded the acquisition price with funds raised through revolving credit facility. This buyout will be a win-win situation for Kadant as it adds a very strong management team of Syntron and its 250 experienced employees. Further, the buyout will strengthen Kadant’s product offerings in process industries and open growth opportunities in new markets.
It is worth mentioning here that acquired assets had a positive impact of $0.9 million on the company’s revenues in the third quarter of 2018.
Snapshot of Kadant’s Inorganic Initiatives
Kadant believes in investing money for acquisition of complementary businesses and technologies. The above-mentioned buyout is in sync with this policy of Kadant.
Prior to the Syntron buyout, Kadant did not make any acquisitions in 2018. But, the company did acquire some assets of Unaflex, LLC in August 2017 and NII FPG Company’s forest products businesses in July 2017. The Unaflex assets added strength to Kadant’s Papermaking Systems segment while NII FPG Company’s forest products business acquisition fortified Kadant’s Wood Processing Systems segment.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
With a market capitalization of nearly $911 million, Kadant currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings remained unchanged at $5.03 for 2018 (results not yet released) and at $5.83 for 2019. These estimates reflect year-over-year growth of 12% for 2018 and 15.9% for 2019.
Kadant Inc Price and Consensus
Kadant Inc Price and Consensus | Kadant Inc Quote
In the past three months, shares of Kadant have decreased 21% versus the industry’s decline of 16.2%.
Some better-ranked stocks in the industry are DXP Enterprises, Inc. DXPE, Luxfer Holdings PLC LXFR and Colfax Corporation CFX. While both DXP Enterprises and Luxfer currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Colfax carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
In the past 60 days, earnings estimates for the three companies have improved for 2019. Further, positive earnings surprise for the last quarter was 17.95% for DXP Enterprises, 60.61% for Luxfer and 3.85% for Colfax.
More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!
It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.
Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Be the first to comment