Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Increases Stake in Kadant Inc $KAI

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 6,123 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Kadant were worth $12,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KAI. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kadant by 11.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $931,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Kadant by 8.6% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 907 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Kadant by 4.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,353,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in shares of Kadant during the first quarter valued at about $255,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Kadant by 1.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 30,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on KAI shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. DA Davidson set a $303.00 price objective on Kadant in a report on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research upgraded Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kadant in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kadant presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $341.50.

Kadant Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of Kadant stock opened at $284.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 32.94 and a beta of 1.20. Kadant Inc has a 52-week low of $244.87 and a 52-week high of $369.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $317.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $304.45.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $286.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.43 million. Kadant had a net margin of 9.69% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. Kadant has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.780-1.880 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.750 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc will post 11.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.65%.

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.