Comerica Bank Grows Position in Kadant Inc $KAI

Key Points

• Comerica Bank raised its stake in Kadant by 26.4% in Q4, owning 33,197 shares valued at about $9.46 million, while institutional investors collectively hold roughly 96.13% of the stock.
• Kadant beat expectations last quarter with $2.80 EPS versus $2.19 est. and $286.2M revenue (up 10.9% YoY), and issued FY2026 guidance of $10.50–$10.75 EPS.
• Dividend and sentiment: the company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.36 (annualized $1.44, ~0.5% yield) and has a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $341.50 target.

Comerica Bank raised its position in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 26.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 33,197 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,934 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned about 0.28% of Kadant worth $9,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 valued at $29,670,000 after purchasing an additional 58,382 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Kadant in the third quarter valued at $1,515,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in Kadant in the third quarter valued at $1,500,000. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS acquired a new stake in Kadant in the third quarter valued at $4,327,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in Kadant by 8.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 27,631 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $8,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KAI has been the topic of several research reports. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Kadant in a report on Friday, March 27th. DA Davidson set a $303.00 target price on Kadant in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Kadant from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $341.50.

Kadant Trading Down 1.1%

Kadant stock opened at $306.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 35.38 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $318.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $304.53. Kadant Inc has a 52 week low of $244.87 and a 52 week high of $369.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $286.20 million during 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%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. 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 research analysts predict that Kadant Inc will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Kadant's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Kadant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.65%.

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.

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