Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Kadant from hold to buy, adding to a generally positive analyst view that includes an overall Moderate Buy rating and an average target price of $341.50.
• Kadant reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of $2.84 versus estimates of $2.11 and revenue of $281.51 million beating forecasts. Revenue rose 17.9% year over year, and the company also issued upbeat guidance for Q2 2026 and FY 2026.
• The stock was trading around $339 and is near its 52-week high of $369.97. Institutional ownership remains heavy, with hedge funds and other institutions holding about 96.13% of shares outstanding.

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

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on KAI. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Kadant from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. DA Davidson set a $303.00 price objective on Kadant in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Kadant in a report on Friday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $341.50.

Kadant Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of KAI opened at $339.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.65 and a beta of 1.19. Kadant has a 12-month low of $244.87 and a 12-month high of $369.97. The company has a current ratio of 8.91, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $316.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $305.19.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $281.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.95 million. Kadant had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The business's revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. Kadant has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.880-2.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 12.330-12.680 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Kadant will post 12.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kadant

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KAI. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $210,494,000 after acquiring an additional 737,555 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 494,773 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $141,020,000 after acquiring an additional 178,563 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,985,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 13.7% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,038,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $303,619,000 after acquiring an additional 125,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverbridge Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 43.4% during the first quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 252,230 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,739,000 after acquiring an additional 76,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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