Norges Bank Invests $42.99 Million in Kadant Inc $KAI

Key Points

• Norges Bank opened a new position in Kadant during the fourth quarter, buying 150,814 shares worth about $42.99 million and ending with roughly 1.28% of the company.
• Kadant’s latest earnings beat expectations, reporting $2.84 EPS versus the $2.11 estimate and revenue of $281.51 million, while also raising guidance for both Q2 2026 and full-year 2026.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share and authorized a $50 million stock buyback; however, recent analyst sentiment is mixed, with MarketBeat showing an average rating of Hold.

Norges Bank bought a new position in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 150,814 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $42,985,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.28% of Kadant at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 102.3% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 87 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 89.1% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 0.4% during the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 11,723 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,489,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 2.9% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,013 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 1.5% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,527 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,347,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on KAI shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Kadant from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Kadant from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. DA Davidson set a $303.00 price objective on Kadant in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Kadant from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $341.50.

Kadant Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of KAI stock opened at $294.12 on Tuesday. Kadant Inc has a 12-month low of $244.87 and a 12-month high of $369.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm's 50 day moving average is $314.15 and its 200 day moving average is $311.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.54 and a beta of 1.20.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.73. Kadant had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The company had revenue of $281.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $274.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. 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. Research analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 12.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. Kadant's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.42%.

Kadant declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Kadant

In other Kadant news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $455,473.71. This trade represents a 47.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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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