Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $26.53 Million Position in Kadant Inc $KAI

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its stake in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 93,079 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.79% of Kadant worth $26,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Kadant by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 22,853 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,514,000 after buying an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Kadant by 1,619.6% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 77,847 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,188,000 after buying an additional 73,320 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 2,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $770,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 216,204 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,623,000 after purchasing an additional 47,506 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KAI. Weiss Ratings raised Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research raised Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. DA Davidson set a $303.00 target price on Kadant in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $341.50.

Kadant Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE KAI opened at $309.40 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Kadant Inc has a twelve month low of $244.87 and a twelve month high of $369.97. The company has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.28 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s fifty day moving average is $312.97 and its 200 day moving average is $306.79.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.73. Kadant had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 9.45%.The company had revenue of $281.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. Kadant’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. Kadant has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.880-2.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 12.330-12.680 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 12.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is 16.42%.

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.