Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Has $61.62 Million Stock Holdings in Kadant Inc $KAI

Key Points

• Conestoga Capital Advisors increased its stake in Kadant by 28.2% to 216,204 shares—about $61.62 million, or roughly 1.84% ownership, per its latest SEC filing.
• Kadant beat quarterly expectations with $2.80 EPS (vs. $2.19 est.) and $286.2M revenue (up 10.9% y/y), and issued guidance of Q1 2026 EPS 1.780–1.880 and FY2026 EPS 10.500–10.750.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.36 (annualized $1.44), implying a ~0.5% yield and a payout ratio of 16.65%.

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 28.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 216,204 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 47,506 shares during the quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 1.84% of Kadant worth $61,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KAI. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Kadant by 76,036.6% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 738,525 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $210,494,000 after acquiring an additional 737,555 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Kadant by 141.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,703 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,670,000 after acquiring an additional 58,382 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in Kadant by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 984,193 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $312,432,000 after acquiring an additional 34,561 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in Kadant by 163.8% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 55,036 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $16,374,000 after acquiring an additional 34,170 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Kadant by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 147,463 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $46,812,000 after acquiring an additional 28,380 shares during the period. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kadant Trading Down 4.1%

NYSE:KAI opened at $293.46 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $317.39 and its 200-day moving average is $304.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.38. Kadant Inc has a 52 week low of $244.87 and a 52 week high of $369.97. The firm has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.93 and a beta of 1.26.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.61. Kadant had a net margin of 9.69% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company had revenue of $286.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. 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 expect that Kadant Inc will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Kadant's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Kadant's payout ratio is currently 16.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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