Fifth Third Bancorp Buys 33,627 Shares of Kadant Inc $KAI

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 12,689.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,627 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Kadant were worth $9,908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 1,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 84 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Kadant in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in Kadant by 102.3% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 87 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Kadant in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Kadant in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kadant Stock Up 0.2%

KAI stock opened at $300.61 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $309.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $314.78. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.28 and a beta of 1.20. 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 Inc has a 12 month low of $244.87 and a 12 month high of $369.97.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its earnings results 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. Kadant had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The firm had revenue of $281.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, equities research analysts forecast that Kadant Inc will post 12.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $455,473.71. This represents a 47.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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