Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.73 EPS

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.73, FiscalAI reports. Kadant had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 9.45%.The firm had revenue of $281.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Kadant updated its Q2 2026 guidance to 2.880-2.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance to 12.330-12.680 EPS.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of KAI stock opened at $329.97 on Wednesday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $244.87 and a fifty-two week high of $369.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $312.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $308.03. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.62 and a beta of 1.19.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Kadant’s payout ratio is 16.42%.

Kadant declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KAI. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research report on Monday, May 4th. DA Davidson set a $303.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research cut shares of Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $341.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kadant

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 374 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Kadant by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 76,769 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,881,000 after acquiring an additional 3,604 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Kadant by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 33,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,476,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Kadant during the 4th quarter worth $1,340,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Kadant by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,079 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.