Capital World Investors Raises Stock Position in Kadant Inc $KAI

Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 56.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 494,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 178,563 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors’ holdings in Kadant were worth $141,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KAI. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 102.3% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 87 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 1,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 84 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kadant in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 89.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kadant

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

Kadant Stock Up 0.3%

KAI stock opened at $294.12 on Tuesday. Kadant Inc has a twelve month low of $244.87 and a twelve month high of $369.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.54 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day moving average of $314.15 and a 200 day moving average of $311.33.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.73. Kadant had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 9.45%.The company had revenue of $281.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. Kadant has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.880-2.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 12.330-12.680 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Kadant Inc will post 12.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KAI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research cut Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. DA Davidson set a $303.00 target price on Kadant in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kadant presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $341.50.

Kadant 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.