Legato Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Kadant Inc $KAI

Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC lifted 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 3,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 89.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 11,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,489,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Performance

NYSE KAI opened at $329.97 on Wednesday. Kadant Inc has a 1-year low of $244.87 and a 1-year high of $369.97. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.62 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $312.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $308.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.53.

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. The firm had revenue of $281.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.95 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 9.45%.Kadant’s quarterly revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. Kadant has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.880-2.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 12.330-12.680 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 12.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.42%.

Kadant declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented 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 reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research downgraded Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen raised Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $303.00 price objective on Kadant in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $341.50.

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.