Kadant Inc $KAI Shares Purchased by Quantbot Technologies LP

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP significantly increased its stake in Kadant Inc by 91.3% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 10,969 shares valued at $3.7 million.
• Kadant reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding estimates, although revenue fell by 7.3% year-over-year.
• The company has initiated a $50 million stock buyback program, indicating management's belief that the stock may be undervalued.

Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 91.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,969 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,236 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP owned 0.09% of Kadant worth $3,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 9.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,332,583 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $448,961,000 after purchasing an additional 114,310 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kadant by 97.9% during the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 221,209 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $74,528,000 after purchasing an additional 109,439 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Kadant by 150,885.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 81,532 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $27,469,000 after buying an additional 81,478 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Kadant by 809.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 64,893 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $21,863,000 after buying an additional 57,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired a new stake in Kadant during the 1st quarter valued at $12,555,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Kadant Trading Up 4.2%

Shares of Kadant stock traded up $13.8750 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $340.5350. The company's stock had a trading volume of 106,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 114,763. The business has a fifty day moving average of $328.36 and a 200 day moving average of $331.68. Kadant Inc has a 1-year low of $281.30 and a 1-year high of $429.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of 37.92 and a beta of 1.24.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $255.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.99 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 10.34%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.81 EPS. 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 analysts forecast that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 EPS for the current year.

Kadant announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 15th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.