Royal Bank of Canada Increases Position in Kadant Inc $KAI

Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI - Free Report) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,923 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.66% of Kadant worth $26,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KAI. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kadant in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its position in Kadant by 50.0% during the 1st 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. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Kadant during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $54,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Kadant by 348.1% during the 1st 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. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Kadant by 982.6% during the 1st 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. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Kadant

In other news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Kadant Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE KAI traded up $3.67 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $322.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 84,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 140,284. Kadant Inc has a 52 week low of $281.30 and a 52 week high of $429.95. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $331.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $327.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 35.90 and a beta of 1.25.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 analyst estimates of $245.99 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 10.34%.The business's revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $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. Research analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Kadant's payout ratio is presently 15.14%.

Kadant declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 15th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to buy up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Kadant 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.