Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Kadant from "hold" to "strong-buy", and the stock carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" from analysts with an average price target of $341.50.
• Latest quarter beat expectations: Kadant reported $2.80 EPS vs. $2.19 expected and $286.2M revenue vs. $274.4M, with revenue up 10.9% year‑over‑year and FY2026 guidance of $10.50–$10.75 per share.
• Heavy institutional ownership: 96.13% of shares are held by institutions, with major funds (Wasatch, M&T Bank, Capital World Investors) significantly increasing their positions.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. DA Davidson set a $303.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Kadant in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kadant has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $341.50.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of KAI stock opened at $323.35 on Tuesday. Kadant has a 12 month low of $244.87 and a 12 month high of $369.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 37.38 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company's fifty day moving average price is $319.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $303.74.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $286.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $274.43 million. Kadant had a net margin of 9.69% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. Kadant has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.780-1.880 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.750 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Kadant will post 11.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kadant

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in Kadant by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,038,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $303,619,000 after buying an additional 125,342 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in Kadant by 76,036.6% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 738,525 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $210,494,000 after buying an additional 737,555 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Kadant by 56.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 494,773 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $141,020,000 after buying an additional 178,563 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Kadant by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 456,721 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $130,175,000 after buying an additional 15,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kadant by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 314,496 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $89,651,000 after buying an additional 2,294 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% 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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