King Luther Capital Management Corp Decreases Position in Kadant Inc $KAI

King Luther Capital Management Corp cut its position in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 62.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,940 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Kadant were worth $499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of KAI. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Kadant by 76,036.6% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 738,525 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,494,000 after buying an additional 737,555 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kadant by 1,619.6% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 77,847 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,188,000 after buying an additional 73,320 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Kadant by 141.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,670,000 after buying an additional 58,382 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in Kadant by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 204,937 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $58,411,000 after buying an additional 48,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kadant by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 216,204 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,623,000 after buying an additional 47,506 shares during the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of KAI stock opened at $319.96 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $314.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $308.94. Kadant Inc has a 52 week low of $244.87 and a 52 week high of $369.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 36.48 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $281.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.95 million. Kadant had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. Kadant has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.880-2.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 12.330-12.680 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. Kadant’s payout ratio is currently 16.42%.

Kadant announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. DA Davidson set a $303.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kadant presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $341.50.

Insider Activity

In other Kadant news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total transaction of $410,026.59. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,363 shares in the company, valued at $455,473.71. The trade was a 47.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kadant Company Profile

Kadant Inc, headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts, is a global supplier of high‐value, critical components and engineered systems for the pulp and paper industry and other process industries. The company’s product portfolio spans stock preparation technologies, refiners and pulpers, fluid handling systems, and web‐handling equipment designed to optimize the efficiency and quality of paper production. In addition to capital equipment, Kadant offers aftermarket services, including spare parts, maintenance programs and process optimization consulting, which together support long‐term customer productivity and reliability.

Originally part of a larger industrial conglomerate, Kadant was established as an independent public company in 1991.