Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Kadant to “hold” from “buy,” joining other analysts who have recently reduced their ratings. The stock has a consensus “hold” rating and a $357.50 price target.
• Kadant reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.42 versus the $2.94 estimate and revenue of $312.88 million. Revenue increased 22.6% year over year, and management issued full-year 2026 EPS guidance of $12.43–$12.68.
• The company authorized a $50 million share-repurchase plan, representing up to 1.4% of outstanding shares. Institutional investors own 96.13% of Kadant’s stock, while an insider recently sold shares worth about $410,000.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on KAI. Weiss Ratings downgraded Kadant from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded Kadant from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on Kadant from $306.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $357.50.

Kadant Price Performance

KAI stock opened at $333.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.90 and a beta of 1.20. Kadant has a twelve month low of $244.87 and a twelve month high of $354.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $309.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $316.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 5.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $312.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.17 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 9.52%.The company's revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. Kadant has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.430-12.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kadant will post 12.54 EPS for the current year.

Kadant declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kadant

In other Kadant news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total value of $410,026.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,363 shares in the company, valued at $455,473.71. This represents a 47.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kadant

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $565,205,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Kadant by 76,036.6% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 738,525 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $210,494,000 after purchasing an additional 737,555 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 494,773 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $141,020,000 after buying an additional 178,563 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,985,000. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,038,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $303,619,000 after purchasing an additional 125,342 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company's stock.

Kadant Company Profile

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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