4D Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 15,000 Kadant Inc $KAI

Key Points

• 4D Advisors LLC initiated a new position in Kadant, buying 15,000 shares worth about $4.275 million, making the stock its 20th-largest holding and about 2.3% of its portfolio.
• Kadant reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.84 topping estimates by $0.73 and revenue rising 17.9% year over year; the company also issued upbeat Q2 2026 and FY 2026 guidance.
• The company announced a $50 million share buyback and a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $341.50.

4D Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 15,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $4,275,000. Kadant comprises approximately 2.3% of 4D Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. 4D Advisors LLC owned 0.13% of Kadant at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 141.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,703 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,670,000 after purchasing an additional 58,382 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the third quarter valued at $1,500,000. Zhang Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the third quarter valued at $1,515,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 43,246 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $12,326,000 after purchasing an additional 6,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at $1,144,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on KAI shares. DA Davidson set a $303.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kadant from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Kadant from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Kadant from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Kadant currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $341.50.

Kadant Trading Down 0.7%

KAI stock opened at $293.34 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.47. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $314.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $312.39. Kadant Inc has a 52 week low of $244.87 and a 52 week high of $369.97. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of 33.45 and a beta of 1.20.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $281.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc will post 12.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. Kadant's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.42%.

Kadant announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Kadant

In other Kadant news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total transaction of $410,026.59. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,363 shares in the company, valued at $455,473.71. This represents a 47.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by 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.

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