Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Kadant Inc $KAI

Key Points

• Aptus Capital Advisors raised its stake in Kadant by 15.1% in Q3 to 40,934 shares (about 0.35% of the company) worth $12.18M, with other institutions also increasing positions and institutional ownership at roughly 96.13%.
• Kadant beat expectations with $2.80 EPS vs. $2.19 expected and $286.2M revenue (up 10.9% YoY), provided Q1 2026 guidance of 1.78–1.88 EPS and FY2026 guidance of 10.50–10.75 EPS, while analysts hold an average "Hold" rating and $341.50 price target.

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 15.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,934 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 5,357 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.35% of Kadant worth $12,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in Kadant by 3.6% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 984,193 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $312,432,000 after acquiring an additional 34,561 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kadant by 1.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 279,013 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $88,583,000 after purchasing an additional 4,162 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 54.6% in the 2nd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 248,632 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $78,928,000 after purchasing an additional 87,832 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 156,651 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $46,616,000 after purchasing an additional 17,747 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 147,463 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $46,812,000 after purchasing an additional 28,380 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KAI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Kadant in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $303.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $341.50.

Kadant Trading Down 4.2%

Shares of NYSE:KAI opened at $331.16 on Friday. Kadant Inc has a 52 week low of $244.87 and a 52 week high of $381.73. The company's 50 day moving average is $323.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $305.17. The company has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 38.28 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 5.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.61. The company had revenue of $286.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $274.43 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 9.69%.Kadant's quarterly revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. Kadant has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.780-1.880 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.750 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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