Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kadant (NYSE:KAI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Kadant from $306.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $357.50.

Kadant Price Performance

NYSE:KAI opened at $267.35 on Friday. Kadant has a 52-week low of $244.87 and a 52-week high of $354.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $308.61 and a 200 day moving average of $312.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75 and a beta of 1.17.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $312.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $299.17 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 9.52%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. Kadant has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.430-12.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Kadant will post 12.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Kadant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Kadant’s payout ratio is currently 15.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KAI. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 30,438.1% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,315,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,356,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,301,816 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kadant in the second quarter worth $565,205,000. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in Kadant by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,038,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $303,619,000 after buying an additional 125,342 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Kadant by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 494,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $141,020,000 after buying an additional 178,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Kadant by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 314,496 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $89,651,000 after buying an additional 2,294 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Company Profile

Kadant Inc (NYSE: KAI) is a global supplier of technologies and equipment used in the production of paper and other industrial products. The company develops solutions that help customers manage fluid flow, process raw materials, remove contaminants, and improve the efficiency and sustainability of manufacturing operations.

Its products and services include fluid-handling equipment, doctoring and cleaning systems, stock-preparation equipment, granulators, screens, filtration systems, steam and condensate systems, and related process technologies.