First Trust Advisors LP Invests $1.01 Million in Kadant Inc $KAI

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors acquired 3,460 shares of Kadant worth approximately $1.01 million, while institutional investors collectively own 96.13% of the company.
• Kadant beat quarterly expectations, reporting $3.42 in EPS and $312.88 million in revenue, with revenue up 22.6% year over year. The company guided for fiscal 2026 EPS of $12.43–$12.68.
• The board authorized a $50 million share buyback, and Kadant declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $357.50.

First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,460 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,012,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in Kadant by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,038,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $303,619,000 after purchasing an additional 125,342 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 76,036.6% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 738,525 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $210,494,000 after purchasing an additional 737,555 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 494,773 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $141,020,000 after buying an additional 178,563 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 456,721 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $130,175,000 after buying an additional 15,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kadant by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 314,496 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $89,651,000 after buying an additional 2,294 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Kadant Price Performance

KAI opened at $331.94 on Tuesday. Kadant Inc has a 52-week low of $244.87 and a 52-week high of $357.65. The company has a 50 day moving average of $307.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $316.31. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.69 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 5.37, a current ratio of 9.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $312.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.17 million. Kadant had a net margin of 9.52% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. Kadant has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.430-12.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 12.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. Kadant's payout ratio is currently 15.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kadant

In other news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total value of $410,026.59. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,363 shares of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KAI. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kadant from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings lowered Kadant from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research cut Kadant from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Kadant from $306.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $357.50.

About Kadant

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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