Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

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

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of Kadant stock opened at $323.35 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 37.38 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $319.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $303.74. Kadant has a fifty-two week low of $244.87 and a fifty-two week high of $369.97.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Kadant had a net margin of 9.69% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The business had revenue of $286.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. Kadant has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.780-1.880 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.750 EPS. Analysts expect that Kadant will post 11.17 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Kadant by 1,300.0% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 84 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kadant by 102.3% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 87 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Kadant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 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.