Wasatch Advisors LP Acquires 125,342 Shares of Kadant Inc $KAI

Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 13.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,038,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 125,342 shares during the quarter. Kadant makes up about 2.0% of Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Wasatch Advisors LP owned approximately 0.09% of Kadant worth $303,619,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kadant in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Kadant in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Kadant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Performance

NYSE KAI opened at $323.75 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $312.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $313.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.92 and a beta of 1.20. Kadant Inc has a fifty-two week low of $244.87 and a fifty-two week high of $369.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $281.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. The company’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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kadant Inc will post 12.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kadant Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 16.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kadant news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total value of $410,026.59. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $455,473.71. This represents a 47.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KAI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $341.50.

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.