Kadant Inc $KAI Stock Holdings Raised by Wasatch Advisors LP

Key Points

• Wasatch Advisors LP increased its Kadant stake by 13.7% in the first quarter, making the stock its 10th-largest holding and bringing ownership to about 8.79% of the company.
• Kadant reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.84 beating estimates and revenue rising 17.9% year over year; it also issued Q2 2026 and full-year 2026 guidance above prior expectations.
• The company approved a $50 million share repurchase program and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a $341.50 average price target.

Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 13.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,038,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 125,342 shares during the quarter. Kadant accounts for 2.0% of Wasatch Advisors LP's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Wasatch Advisors LP owned about 8.79% of Kadant worth $303,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Kadant by 76,036.6% in the fourth 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 period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake 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 valued at $141,020,000 after purchasing an additional 178,563 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 456,721 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $130,175,000 after purchasing an additional 15,446 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $89,651,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Kadant by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 279,029 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $79,537,000 after buying an additional 10,249 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Kadant

In other news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total value of $410,026.59. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $455,473.71. This trade represents a 47.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KAI opened at $323.75 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $312.84 and a 200 day moving average of $313.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.92 and a beta of 1.20. Kadant Inc has a 52 week low of $244.87 and a 52 week high of $369.97.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.73. Kadant had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 9.45%.The firm had revenue of $281.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $274.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. Kadant has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.880-2.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 12.330-12.680 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kadant Inc will post 12.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. Kadant's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KAI. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kadant from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Kadant from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Kadant from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.