Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Kadant Inc $KAI

Key Points

• Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC has reduced its stake in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 0.9%, now owning a total of 1,334,266 shares worth approximately $449.5 million.
• In addition, several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Conestoga Capital Advisors, have increased their holdings in the company during the first quarter.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $340.00 for Kadant shares, with ratings including "hold" and "outperform" from various research firms.

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,334,266 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 12,789 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned about 11.33% of Kadant worth $449,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 150 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 348.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 242 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 982.6% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 249 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Kadant Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of Kadant stock traded down $6.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $324.12. 50,704 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 142,532. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 1.53. Kadant Inc has a 1-year low of $281.30 and a 1-year high of $429.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $330.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $331.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 36.09 and a beta of 1.24.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $255.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Kadant has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 9.050-9.250 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on KAI shares. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kadant from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Kadant from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $340.00.

Insider Activity at Kadant

In other news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 415 shares of the 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 directly owned 4,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,438,242.50. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.