Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $63.57 Million Stake in Kadant Inc $KAI

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD sold 2,730 shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI), reducing its holdings by 1.4%, resulting in ownership of approximately 188,667 shares valued at about $63.57 million.
• Kadant reported a net margin of 10.34% and earnings per share (EPS) of $2.31, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.94 for the quarter.
• The company's board has authorized a $50 million stock repurchase plan, indicating management's belief that the stock is currently undervalued.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 188,667 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,730 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 1.60% of Kadant worth $63,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in KAI. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of Kadant by 50.0% in the first quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 150 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Kadant by 348.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 242 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Kadant by 982.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 249 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the first quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Kadant news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.41, for a total value of $140,440.15. Following the transaction, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KAI traded down $6.82 during trading on Monday, hitting $323.37. The company had a trading volume of 91,259 shares, compared to its average volume of 102,812. The company has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.01 and a beta of 1.25. Kadant Inc has a 52 week low of $281.30 and a 52 week high of $429.95. The business's 50-day moving average is $331.01 and its 200 day moving average is $329.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.38.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $255.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $245.99 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 10.34%.The firm's revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.81 earnings per share. Kadant has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 9.050-9.250 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KAI has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Kadant from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kadant from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $340.00.

About Kadant

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.