Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

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

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on KAI. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Kadant from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Kadant from $306.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kadant currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $357.50.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of Kadant stock opened at $329.34 on Friday. Kadant has a 52 week low of $244.87 and a 52 week high of $354.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $310.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $316.63. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $312.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.17 million. Kadant had a net margin of 9.52% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. Kadant has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.430-12.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kadant will post 12.54 EPS for the current year.

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

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 16th. Kadant’s payout ratio is presently 15.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kadant news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total value of $410,026.59. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,363 shares in the company, valued at $455,473.71. This trade represents a 47.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Kadant in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Kadant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.