Champlain Investment Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Kadant Inc $KAI

Key Points

• Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Kadant Inc by 249.0%, owning approximately 160,800 shares valued at $54.17 million after acquiring an additional 114,732 shares in Q1.
• Kadant reported earnings of $2.31 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, but noted a 7.3% revenue decline year-over-year.
• The company's Board of Directors has approved a $50 million share buyback program, indicating their belief that the stock is undervalued.

Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 249.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 160,800 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 114,732 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned 1.37% of Kadant worth $54,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,332,583 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $448,961,000 after buying an additional 114,310 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 97.9% in the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 221,209 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $74,528,000 after buying an additional 109,439 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 165,438 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,738,000 after buying an additional 10,972 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Kadant by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 156,358 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $53,985,000 after acquiring an additional 26,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kadant by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 126,606 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,655,000 after acquiring an additional 4,920 shares during the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KAI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kadant from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Kadant from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $340.00.

Kadant Stock Down 2.1%

Kadant stock traded down $6.82 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $323.37. 91,259 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 102,812. Kadant Inc has a 52-week low of $281.30 and a 52-week high of $429.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.01 and a beta of 1.25. The business's 50-day moving average price is $330.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $330.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.37. Kadant had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 12.62%. The business had revenue of $255.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $245.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.81 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Kadant has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 9.050-9.250 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 15th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Kadant

In other Kadant news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 415 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.41, for a total value of $140,440.15. Following the sale, the director owned 4,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,438,242.50. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Kadant Company Profile

Kadant Inc supplies technologies and engineered systems worldwide. It operates in three segments: Flow Control, Industrial Processing, and Material Handling. The Flow Control segment develops, manufactures, and markets fluid-handling systems and equipment, such as rotary joints, syphons, turbulator bars, expansion joints, and engineered steam and condensate systems; and doctoring, cleaning, and filtration systems and related consumables consisting of doctor systems and holders, doctor blades, cleaning shower and fabric-conditioning systems, forming systems and wear surfaces, and water-filtration systems.